This has been an unfortunate situation from the start. The NBA has officially suspended Joel Embiid after shoving a reporter during a postgame altercation after a Saturday night game.
The announcement came following the team’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at Wells Fargo Center, where Embiid confronted Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The reporter wrote a recent column about the player’s injury issues
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In the piece, Hayes made reference to Joel Embiid’s son and late brother, something that did go well with the Sixers’ player. He has yet to play this season in the middle criticism over that of his own.
The league was clear on the matter
The league’s office said in a statement that they understood what the player is going through, his acting was not correct. “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.”
In the meantime, 76ers fans believe that Joel Embiid can comeback to the courts soon, while the media continues to question his durability after not even playing in the preseason.
