To say Joel Embiid’s 2024-25 NBA season has been controversial would be an understatement. The Philadelphia 76ers star has already received a technical foul, been involved in an investigation and suspended for three games. And did we mention he hasn’t played a single minute of basketball yet?
“Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA,” Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement. “While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical.”
According to ESPN, on Saturday, the 2022-23 MVP clashed with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes over the reporter referencing Embiid’s son Arthur and his late brother, for who his son is named, in a piece about the player’s physical conditioning and focus.
After the 76ers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, as media entered the team’s locker room, Embiid approached Hayes, saying, “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 and I’m going to have to ... live with the consequences.”
Their back and forth continued with Hayes offering an apology that the NBA star wasn’t interested in. When Joel stated that he doesn’t care what the media says about him, the columnist replied, “But you do.”
As a security staffer tried to get reporters to not cover the incident, Embiid yelled, “They can do whatever they want. I don’t give a s—-.”
While Joel is a human who is allowed to have regular emotional reactions when he feels that his family is disrespected, this behavior is just unacceptable. At his level of success, he has multiple people on his team and in the 76ers organization who can handle this situation for him. The controversy surrounding his knee injury, playing in the Olympics and planned load management for this season already has the focus on everything but basketball. The team doesn’t need another distraction from him right now.
If he’s not leading the team to a championship, or at least significant postseason success, these constant headlines around Joel Embiid aren’t helping. At some point, the 76ers may need to make some hard decisions about their star’s future with the team.
He will miss the next three games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets. He is scheduled to finally hit the court next Tuesday versus the New York Knicks. Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the suspension will cost him $1,063,778 in pay.