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Joel Embiid finally made his 2024-25 season debut on Tuesday in the Philadelphia 76ers 111-99 loss to the New York Knicks, but if it weren't for a three-game suspension he picked up for getting into a physical confrontation with a reporter over a story he wrote about the star center, he would have returned sooner. If you ask former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Mitchell, though, Embiid was in the right for shoving the reporter.
The reporter in question is Marcus Hayes, who writes for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and also covered Mitchell during his time with the Eagles back in the early 2000s. Mitchell recalled Hayes targeting him in one of his pieces when he was playing for the Eagles, and he called out the longtime reporter, while also defending Embiid with some recent NSFW comments.
“I shoulda did that a long time ago!” Mitchell said on Wednesday's 94WIP Afternoon Show with Ike Reese, Spike Eskin and Jack Fritz. “Listen man, when a guy is still doing stuff he was doing in 2000, 2001, 2002 and he's still around in 2024 doing the same type of stuff and players still want to put hands on him—I'll tell you, that man is an a**. That's all it is, quite frankly.”
Brian Mitchell steps up to the plate to defend Joel Embiid
Hayes cited both Embiid's son and his late younger brother when criticizing Embiid for his continued absences for the Sixers. Embiid took exception to Hayes' comments, and shoved him when he crossed paths with him in the locker room. According to Mitchell, not much has changed with Hayes, as he was pulling similar stunts earlier in his career when he covered Mitchell on the Eagles.
While Embiid was punished, it is unknown if Hayes was reprimanded, which drew quite a bit of backlash from fans. It's great to see Mitchell coming to Embiid's defense, but chances are he just wants to focus on basketball moving forward. After sitting out the Sixers loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, he will look to get back on the court for their clash with the Orlando Magic on Friday.
