By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Philadelphia 76ers’ franchise player Joel Embiid is in hot water after reports confirmed that he shoved Philadelphia Inquirer’s columnist Marcus Hayes following the team’s 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on November 3, 2024.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Embiid shoved Hayes when they met in the team’s locker room area, where reporters started to fill the venue for post-game interviews.
It was determined that Embiid took note of what Hayes wrote about him in his column, including his effort to stay in shape in a single NBA season while questioning his professionalism.
However, what drove Embiid in a frenzy was his article mentioning his son and late brother. Hayes reportedly offered his apologies but the star center couldn’t be contained.
“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.
Despite Hayes’ saying sorry, Embiid still continued talking with profane language while raising his voice in front of the other reporters.
To halt things from escalating, Philadelphia’s public relations chief got between Embiid and Hayes to stop the quarreling.
76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey then told reporters that the front office already knew what happened, and they would be conducting an investigation.
With already five games into the 2024-2025 season, Embiid is yet to play for the 76ers, but the management disclosed that he will still be sidelined due to left knee injury management.
Philadelphia already needs Embiid back into the lineup as they suffered one of their worst starts in the past five years with a disappointing 1-4 win-loss record.
Aside from Embiid, Paul George, the team’s newly acquired star, is also absent in all five games and is raring to reinforce the squad when his knee reaches 100 %.
