In their second investigation of the Philadelphia 76ers this young season, the NBA has made a ruling regarding Joel Embiid‘s altercation with a media member on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Sixers star has officially been suspended three games, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.
https://x.com/NBAPR/status/1853913216436338815
The suspension stems from an incident where Embiid reportedly “shoved” a media member in the locker room amid an argument regarding the columnists’ recent article.
The columnist wrote an opinion piece on Joel Embiid that stated that he disrespects his team, the sport, himself, and the historic greats of the sport with his absence while also inaccurately representing Embiid’s weight loss this summer, claiming that he “showed up out of shape—again.”
None of that was Embiid’s true issue with the piece, however.
What Embiid took issue with was a portion at the onset of the article in which the author used both Embiid’s son and his namesake, Embiid’s brother, who tragically passed at the young age of 13, claiming that Embiid was failing to leave his son behind the legacy of greatness he wishes to provide by failing to play—once again incorrectly attributing it to poor conditioning.
The day before the incident, Embiid addressed the media after practice and voiced his dissatisfaction with the article.
“So I do think it’s bullsh–,” Embiid said. “Like that, dude, he’s not here, Marcus, whatever his name is; I’ve done way too much for this f–king city to be treated like this. Done way too f–king much. But, like I said, I wish I was as lucky as other ones, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not trying, and I’m not doing whatever it takes to be out there, which I’m going to be here pretty soon.”
This led to the events in the locker room Saturday night after the Sixers’ loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
One interesting matter to point to in the NBA’s press release is that the suspension will begin during the Sixers’ next game, in which Embiid is “eligible and able to play.”
This means that, in all likelihood, although nothing with this team is certain, Embiid will make his season debut next week on Tuesday, Nov. 12, as the Sixers play their first game of the NBA In-Season tournament group stage, which is also their first rematch against the New York Knicks.
