Joel Embiid was involved in an altercation with a Philadelphia columnist in the locker room after the 76ers‘ 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, shouting at him during an exchange of words before eventually shoving him.
“We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are commencing an investigation,” an NBA spokesman said in a statement.
Embiid took issue with a recent column by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. In it, Hayes mentioned Embiid’s son and late brother — both named Arthur — while questioning Embiid’s professionalism and effort to stay in shape.
As reporters entered the locker room to talk to players, Embiid stood and confronted Hayes.
“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.
Embiid continued, with several instances of profanity. Hayes offered an apology, which Embiid did not want. “That’s not the f—ing first time,” Embiid said.
Embiid later said he doesn’t care what reporters say. “But you do,” Hayes answered.
Embiid appeared to raise his voice at that point and not long afterward pushed Hayes on the shoulder while the team’s public relations chief got between them. Another team official moved Tyrese Maxey‘s interview to the hallway outside the locker room to try to clear reporters from the locker room.
At the same time, a team security person asked reporters not to report on what had happened. Embiid yelled over the security guard.
“They can do whatever they want,” Embiid said. “I don’t give a s—.”
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that the team was aware of the incident.
“We take the situation very seriously and are investigating, and have already spoken to the NBA,” Morey said in a statement.
Embiid didn’t play in Saturday’s contest, the fifth consecutive game he has sat out to begin the season because of left knee injury management. Both he and Paul George, who sustained a bone bruise in his left knee when stepping awkwardly in a preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 14, have yet to play this season for the 76ers (1-4).
Speaking to reporters Friday after practice at the team’s facility for the first time in a few weeks, Embiid expressed frustration with the concept that he doesn’t want to play.
“Everybody has been on the same page,” Embiid said of his recovery plan. “If your body doesn’t react well, and if your body tells you one thing [sit out]. I’ve done it. From what I can tell you, I’ve broken my face twice; I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. 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.”
Embiid had surgery on his left knee after sustaining an injury in January, limiting him to 39 games last season. He returned in April, playing in Philadelphia’s six games of a first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks, before helping Team USA win gold at the Paris Olympics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
