Bill Streicher
The Sixers lost 124-107 to the Memphis Grizzles Saturday night, but the results of the game had about a half hour shelf life.
That's because Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relayed on X that after the game, Joel Embiid — who has yet to appear for the Sixers this season — "assaulted a reporter."
Oh, boy, people will remember the Sixers season for all the wrong reasons. The team just dropped to 1-4 and Joel Embiid assaulted a reporter in the locker room.
In a since-deleted response on X, Pompey initially said that Embiid punched said reporter:
However, ESPN's Shams Charania hears that Joel Embiid got into a postgame altercation with a columnist following the loss, but says it was a shove, not a punch:
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.
Charania has since reported that the NBA is investigating the incident:
NBA spokesman tells ESPN: “We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are commencing an investigation.” https://t.co/mfv4sfNm7r
Pompey later added this tweet. It's unclear why he put "shoved" in quotes:
The reporter was “shoved” by Embiid.
Kyle Neubeck of PHLY was present in the locker room and offered this recap of the events that took place:
Joel Embiid to Marcus Hayes:
“You can say I suck, you can say whatever you want about me as a player.
Video: @PHLY_Sports
pic.twitter.com/yxAbiMzrJD
Charania's report does not specify the columnist's name, although Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote the story in question on Embiid, referencing his late-brother Arthur before eventually retracting that part of his story:
Hayes later apologized:
So, I rewrote the lede to my column and replaced the picture. I can see why so many people were upset about it. Sorry about that.
Thanks for all of the constructive criticism. https://t.co/GE8xIHc22z
Embiid — noting that Hayes wasn't present — took aim at the columnist at practice Friday afternoon:
“I’ve done way too much for this fucking city to be treated like this.”
Video: @PompeyOnSixers
pic.twitter.com/fODlo6ZDJx
This is a developing story that will be updated as more details come in...
