Joel Embiid suspended 3 games by NBA for shoving reporter

The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid three games without pay for shoving a reporter during a postgame altercation Saturday night, the league announced Tuesday.

“Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” said Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations. “While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interaction must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”

Following the 76ers’ loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center, Embiid confronted Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid was bothered by a recent column Hayes had written about the forward’s injury issues — a column that had received widespread criticism for referencing Embiid’s son and late brother.

Kyle Neubeck of PHLY later provided a recap on his company’s postgame show.

“The second that Joel realized he was there, got into a verbal back-and-forth. Obviously, we can’t repeat many of the words that were said on this show. The basic gist of it was basically, ‘You can say I suck, you can say whatever you want about me as a player. Don’t ever put my dead brother’s name in your mouth. Don’t talk about my family. Don’t bring them into this. You want to talk to me like a man and talk to me about basketball, that’s different, but if you ever talk about my family again, we’re gonna have real problems.’

“They go kinda back-and-forth and at some point, let’s say 90 seconds to two minutes into this back-and-forth, Joel shoves him. Team security steps in. Players kind of surround the situation and everyone kinda dispersed.”

Hayes’ column was written in reaction to Embiid not being ready for the season, with the Sixers citing a left knee issue. The Sixers were later fined $100,000 for their public statements about Embiid’s health.

The lede of Hayes’ column:

“Joel Embiid consistently points to the birth of his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his basketball career. He often says that he wants to be great to leave a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/joel-embiid-suspended-3-games-by-nba-for-shoving-reporter-213832249.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-05 21:38:00

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