The Philadelphia 76ers fell to 1-4 on the regular season on Saturday night, as the team picked up a 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. As has been the case every time they’ve taken the floor this year, the Sixers were without the services of Joel Embiid, who is ramping up following an issue the team discovered in his left knee.
But despite not taking the floor, Embiid was involved in an incident after the game. According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Embiid “assaulted a reporter in the locker room.” There wasn’t a ton of information in the aftermath, but eventually, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Embiid got into it with the person who wrote “a recent column that referenced his late brother,” which featured a shove but no punch.
Earlier this week, Embiid spoke with the media in Philly and got uncharacteristically fired up, saying “When I see people saying he doesn’t want to play. I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. So, I do think it’s bullsh*t.” In particular, he called out “that dude, he’s not here, Marcus, whatever his name is,” a reference to Pompey’s colleague, Marcus Hayes.
Presumably, the reporter Embiid got into it with is Hayes, who wrote a column in October titled “Joel Embiid disrespects the Sixers, the game, its greats, and himself. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley are right to rip him.” While the piece has since been edited to remove the references to Embiid’s son and late brother, you can read what it originally said here.
UPDATE: Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports spoke about the altercation on the PHLY Sixers Postgame Show and explained how the altercation came about, with Embiid telling Hayes not to mention his family, before the two went back and forth for nearly two minutes with Embiid eventually shoving Hayes. Per Neubeck, Sixers security staff and players stepped in quickly.
