Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers loss to LA Clippers. The team’s frontman, Joel Embiid has yet to make his season debut and is currently out on a suspension. Specifically, this suspension comes as a result of an incident the basketball star had with a Philadelphia columnist.
Embiid suspended
The NBA announced Tuesday Embiid will be suspended spanning three games beginning with last night’s match-up against the LA Clippers.
“Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” said Joe Dumars, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations, in a statement announcing the suspension.
“While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”
What happened?
Saturday night, after the 76ers loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Embiid shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in response to comments he found offensive. Particularly, the recent column by Hayes mentioned Embiid’s son and late brother -both named Arthur- negatively correlating his love for his family with his professionalism and skillset in the game.
“The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I’m going to do to you and I’m going to have to … live with the consequences,” Embiid said to Hayes during the confrontation. He then attested that he doesn’t care what reporters say about him which prompted Hayes to reply, “but you do.”
Embiid reacted by shoving Hayes, while the 76ers PR chief got in the middle of them.
Hayes issued an apology which Embiid rejected. The apology was removed from the column.
According to ESPN, Embiid will lose $1,063,778 in pay during the suspension.
When will Joel Embiid make his season debut?
Important to note, prior to the suspension, Joel Embiid had yet to make his season debut. He has been out for issues with his left knee, of which he has surgery on last season. Additionally, he will not play in Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers or Sunday’s game vs. the Charlotte Hornets.
However, fans can delight in knowing Embiid will in fact make his season debut in next Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks.
Sources say, Joel Embiid is ready!