With roughly one minute and 21 second left in last night’s 115-103 Sixers victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City, Josh Giddey was fouled hard by Joel Embiid and slammed into the back of the net. For those who might have missed it, here’s the video and a stupid tweet from the typically reliable StatMuse. 

Josh Giddey fouled hard by Joel Embiid:

Giddey was slow to get up, after Embiid tracked him down on the fast break, fouling him as they both fell to the ground. 

Kate Scott started the commentary by saying “That’s not happening.” Alaa Abdelnaby added the following, questioning why OKC was still running fast breaks and if they were still going to continue to play hard down 13 points with one minute and 23 seconds left in the game, why shouldn’t Joel Embiid and the Sixers? 

Embiid was never going to give up an easy two. He was blocking the shit out of OKC shots all night. Alaa then said “see there are no hard feelings” – which apparently social media decided to use selective hearing and ignore the fact that there was no hard feelings between the two players. 

Alaa continued to say that he was more concerned with Joel Embiid and the way he hit the ground than Josh Giddey and that he could “care less about Giddey.”

Okay that looks way worse when written out than actually what Alaa was saying on the broadcast. Anyone who watches the Sixers religiously knows that Joel Embiid loves to fall to the floor. He does so pretty awkwardly and has said on in the past, on purpose to avoid any injuries.

Embiid literally practices hitting the court in a safe manner. He’s 7’0 tall and weighs 280 pounds. Even last night, he was playing with a banged up knee. Of course, Alaa is going to say that he’s concerned with him falling a certain way than the 19 year old Josh Giddey. 

Obviously, Alaa Abdelnaby was not saying anything negative about the hard foul and Josh Giddey being slow to get up in a negative way. It’s crazy that we even have to write that. Just watch the video and listen to what he’s saying.

This is a non-issue and a complete overreaction by anyone saying otherwise. It was from the second it happened. Of course, everyone is going to try to paint Alaa in a negative light over it. As for StatMuse, you think anyone cares that a lottery team led by Josh Giddey’s 19 points, seven assists, and four steals got fouled hard? Nope. That’s basketball. Get over it and go back to making illustrations with stats that we can all use when talking about whatever teams we cover. 

Keep blocking those shots, big fella. Alaa, keep doing you. Nothing to see here. Enjoy your Mondays everyone.