PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid got into an altercation with a local columnist in the storage room closest to the 76ers’ 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, yelling several words at him before eventually shoving him. him.
“We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room tonight and are beginning an investigation,” an NBA spokesperson said in a comment.
Embiid participated in a new column by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. In it, Hayes spoke about Embiid’s son and his deceased brother, each named Arthur, without questioning Embiid’s professionalism and his attempt to maintain order.
When reporters entered the locker room to talk to the players, Embiid stood and looked at Hayes.
“Next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you’re going to see what I’m going to do to you and I’m going to have to…live with the consequences,” Embiid told Hayes. .
Embiid endured, with several instances of profanity. Hayes offered an apology, which Embiid didn’t need. “That’s not the first time,” Embiid said.
Embiid mentioned closer that he doesn’t support what the hounds say. “But you do,” Hayes responded.
Embiid sensed his tone rise at that moment and soon after shoved Hayes by the shoulder past members of the team’s national family standing between the two. Another legitimate team moved Tyrese Maxey’s interview to the hallway outside the storage room to try to sun reporters from the storage room.
At the same time, a team security person asked journalists not to report what happened. Embiid yelled over the protective reserve.
“They can do whatever they want,” Embiid said. “I don’t give a damn.”
76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that the team was aware of the incident.
“We take the situation very seriously, we are investigating and have already spoken with the NBA,” Morey said in a comment.
Embiid did not play in Saturday’s contest, the fifth straight game he sat out to start the season due to a trauma check on his left knee. Both he and Paul George, who suffered a bone bruise in his left knee while awkwardly walking in a preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 14, have not started playing games this season for the 76ers (1-4). .
Chatting with reporters Friday closer to the team’s first class facility in a few weeks, Embiid expressed frustration with the idea that he doesn’t want to play.
“Everyone has been on the same page,” Embiid said of his healing plan. “If your body doesn’t react well and if your body tells you one thing [sit out]. I have done it. From what I can tell you, I have broken my face twice, I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. I have broken fingers. Still I came back. “When I see people say, ‘He doesn’t want to play,’ I’ve done too much for this city, putting myself at risk, for people to say that.”
Embiid underwent surgery on his left knee following trauma in January, limiting him to 39 games for the entire season. His last return was in April, when he played in all six games for Philadelphia in a first-round loss to the Pristine York Knicks, before helping Group USA win gold at the Paris Olympics.
