Joel Embiid is not happy with how the officials handled LeBron James' hard foul on him in the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers' home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Embiid fell hard on his back after James pushed him with two hands as he was on his way up for a two-handed slam. The unnecessary foul resulted in James' first flagrant foul call since 2014, just his sixth in his 18 total seasons in the league.
The Sixers superstar was obviously fuming over the call. Embiid felt like he got the shorter end of the stick with James being slapped with an F1 rather than an F2.
“That was a hard foul. If that was me, I would've been ejected from the game. I thought it should've been a flagrant 2.” Embiid said (via Tom Moore of the Bucks Country Courier Times).
#Sixers center Joel Embiid on LeBron James' hard/flagrant 1 foul on him: 'That was a hard foul. If that was me, I would've been ejected from the game. … I thought it should've been a flagrant 2.'
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) January 28, 2021
Here's James' hard foul on the Philadelphia front man:
LeBron with a foul on Embiid who goes down hard 😳pic.twitter.com/buqvtyzb0a
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 28, 2021
In fairness to Embiid, his point isn't completely without merit. If it was him on the other side of the play, it would've probably had a better chance to be deemed as a flagrant 2 based on his reputation as a physical defender. At the same time, James hasn't been known to be a dirty player in his long stay in the NBA. The four-time MVP is usually on the receiving end of these hard fouls and is rarely the one being called for it.
The three-time All-Star definitely got the wrong end of the superstar call.
Embiid was left mincing in pain as he stayed on the floor for a good minute after the play. The Sixers center has been dealing with back issues all-season long so it was definitely a scary sight for Sixers fans to see their starting big man roll over on the floor after his painful fall.
Good thing he was able to shake things off and stay on the floor for the Sixers. He led the way with 28 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a couple of blocks en route to a big 107-106 victory over the defending champions.
Follow Us
Subscribe