Joel Embiid shoves columnist in 76ers locker room following loss to Memphis Grizzlies

The 76ers may have hit rock bottom in November.

Joel Embiid shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in the locker room following Philadelphia’s 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, which Embiid did not play in.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1852907454272549238

Joel Embiid and Hayes backstory

A few weeks ago, Hayes notoriously wrote a column that criticized Embiid for his conditioning and how he’s yet to play for the 76ers this season. Except, Hayes included Embiid’s late brother and four-year-old son to emphasize his point about the superstar.

https://twitter.com/SixersJustin/status/1852907758531526746

Embiid called out Hayes during the 76ers’ practice yesterday amid his claim that he’s done too much for Philadelphia to warrant such criticism, to which the columnist doubled down by publishing another hit piece on the 2023 MVP.

Things evidently reached a boiling point tonight:

https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1852912017889173583

“The second Joel realized [Marcus Hayes] was there, they got into a verbal back-and-forth,” said Kyle Neubeck. “The basic gist just was ‘You can say I suck, you can say whatever you want about me as a player, don’t ever put my dead brother’s name in your mouth’ […] Let’s say 90 seconds to two minutes into this back-and-forth, Joel shoves him. Team security steps in, players kind of surround the situation.”

The NBA will conduct yet another investigation on Joel Embiid – this time surrounding what transpired tonight.

It’s important to realize that athletes are humans too. 

Considering how much hate and criticism Embiid receives on a daily basis, it’s easy to understand his frustration, especially when someone uses a deceased family member and your child to drive engagement to their work.