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The Philadelphia 76ers had a rough year last season, and there were times when emotions ran high. At a point in the season, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, Marcus Hayes, wrote a story about Joel Embiid and mentioned his late brother. Embiid saw the columnist after a game and confronted him, ending in a shove.
When talking about the situation months later, Embiid wouldn't change how he confronted the columnists, regardless of how the league tries to punish him.
“I don't care if the NBA wants to fine me $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, $10 million, I would still do it,” Embiid said via ESPN's Dotun Akintoye. “If he walked up to me just like he did, I would push him away again.”
The columnist tried to critique Embiid about his professionalism and how he couldn't stay healthy, and wanted to correlate it to how the 76ers center said he wanted to play to honor his late brother. When Embiid caught wind of the story, he responded, “I've done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk. I've done way too much for this f—— city to be treated like this.”
Embiid then saw the columnist a day later in the locker room and told him, “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.”
After the altercation, Embiid was suspended for three games without pay.
Joel Embiid recalls altercation with columnist
When Hayes initially wrote the story, Embiid had a handful to say.
“When I see people saying, ‘He doesn't want to play,’ I've done way too much. I've done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s bulls—,” Embiid said.
For the past few years, Embiid has dealt with injuries that have caused him to miss time on the court. Last season was probably the most challenging for him, as he was only able to play 19 games because of knee issues. Coming into the season, the plan was for the center not to play in any back-to-backs, but it still wasn't enough to contain the issues that he was having.
When Embiid is on the floor, he's one of the most dominant centers in the league, and he's helped the 76ers reach multiple postseason appearances throughout his career.
