Earlier this week, Joel Embiid vented his frustration at the narrative around his not yet having played this season, saying, “it’s b*******. Like that dude, he’s not here, Marcus, I’ve done way too much for this f****** city to be treated like this.”
The Marcus in question is Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who was at Saturday night’s 76ers loss to the Grizzlies and the two reportedly got into an altercation, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic, as well as reporters on site such as Keith Pompey of The Inquirer.
76ers’ Joel Embiid got in an altercation with a columnist following tonight’s game in Philadelphia. Embiid took issue with a recent column that referenced his late brother and son, and Embiid shoved the columnist. No punch.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 3, 2024
Pompey confirmed that Embiid shoved Hayes.
An NBA spokesman told NBC Sports, “We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are commencing an investigation.”
Hayes wrote a column this week criticizing Embiid for his absences over the years, including this season, then doubled down after Embiid spoke out, saying the Sixers “didn’t know he was so unfit for action when he arrived at training camp.” What set Embiid off was in the original column, where Hayes rather clumsily referenced Embiid’s son Arthur and late brother (who his son is named after), saying Embiid “often says that he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother,” and that involves showing up for work. Embiid understandably took offense to mentioning his family in that manner.
The league traditionally comes down hard on players who physically confront media or fans. We’ll see where this investigation leads.
As for the game, the Grizzlies took control in the second half and cruised to a 124-107 win behind 27 points from Jaren Jackson Jr.
