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The long-festering situation surrounding the 76ers and star center Joel Embiid has turned explosive as the former NBA Most Valuable Player angrily shoved a Philadelphia newspaper columnist Saturday night, bringing new attention to his load-management issues.
Embiid confronted Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes after the 76ers’ 124-107 home loss to the Grizzlies, and then struck and shoved the writer. Hayes, like several others in the media, has questioned Embiid’s effort as he has not played in any of the 76ers’ five games to date—four of them losses. Hayes additionally invoked the player’s late brother and his young son, both named Arthur, in that criticism, angering Embiid.
“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,” Embiid said to Hayes.
Soon after, the NBA said it was initiating an investigation into the incident.
The Issue Amplifies
The scrutiny around Embiid is heightening as questions have continued to fester around his actual physical condition as he rehabilitates his left knee and how it intersects with NBA load-management rules. Already, the NBA has fined the 76ers $100,000 as it seeks to have its top players on the court as much as possible.
But prior to the locker-room incident, Embiid said his prior physical sacrifices were being overlooked.
“I’ve broken my face twice, [and] I came back early with the risk of losing my vision,” he said Friday, when he was a full practice participant. “I have broken fingers. I still came back. When I see people say, ‘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.”
The NBA unveiled a set of new policies ahead of last season as a way to combat load management and give players incentive to not sit out games. The policy ties a minimum number of games played to players being eligible for regular-season awards such as MVP and All-NBA, which come with big financial bonuses.
Negative Impact on New Arena?
The 76ers, meanwhile, are taking on this new dose of negative publicity precisely at a delicate time as they attempt to get a new $1.55 billion arena approved by the Philadelphia City Council.
The project is set to be privately financed, but the deal to build on city-owned land still requires a series of agreements, and getting those is far from assured as opposition to the downtown arena proposal remains fierce in the local Asian American community.
The council last week passed a pair of largely procedural resolutions related to the proposed arena, but the core issue will be taken up over the next six weeks.
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