Joel Embiid and Marcus Hayes’ altercation took the basketball world by storm. After the veteran journalist referenced the former MVP’s son and late brother in one of his columns, Joel confronted and allegedly shoved Hayes following Saturday’s Grizzlies game. “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 told Hayes. Well, as the NBA conducts its investigation, the journalist’s former colleague Stephen A. Smith revealed his stance on the shocking altercation.

Addressing the incident, the former Philadelphia Inquirer employee said, “Marcus Hayes was wrong. Now that doesn’t absolve Embiid. Embiid was wrong too. You don’t put your hands on anybody. You don’t engage in physical violence. You just don’t do that.”

Yes, Stephen A. Smith believes both parties were in the wrong because even though the columnist wrote about his family, he should not have let his emotions get the better of him. “Had he (Embiid) done more than that, he’d be in a world of trouble,” SAS added.

While Stephen A. Smith claimed that Hayes did nothing wrong by questioning Embiid’s conditioning and availability, he did not stand with what the columnist wrote and its presentation, about the hooper’s loved ones, “Marcus Hayes has every right to write that and every right to say that. What you don’t do, however, is bring up his brother who’s deceased due to a car accident. And the inflection point that you refer to involved Embiid’s son, who he named after his late brother, that’s pretty damn low. You can’t do that.”

During The Stephen A. Smith Show, the ESPN analyst also revealed that he reached out to both Joel Embiid and Marcus Hayes to come on his show and shine more light on the incident. However, the former MVP “was not made available” by the Sixers because of the ongoing investigation, while the columnist surprisingly did not get back to his ex-colleague.

Stephen A. Smith re-emphasizes that Marcus Hayes DID NOT ‘cross the line’ by questioning Joel Embiid’s availability

While Smith criticized Hayes’ remarks about Embiid’s family, he did not have an issue with the columnist’s opinion on the Sixers star’s missing out on so many games. “I wanted to emphasize the point that I really thought he crossed the line with that. But that’s it. Nothing else crossed the line.” Yes, SAS claimed as a journalist and columnist, they are paid to give their opinions and write about a player’s situation, pertaining to the game!

There was nothing wrong in questioning Joel Embiid’s health when he has not played any game so far this season, after clocking a good amount of minutes in the Paris Olympics. Moreover, the ESPN analyst also referenced his 17-year tenure at the Philadelphia Inquirer to back his point, “Go back into Philadelphia Inquirer and see some of the columns I’ve written over the years. Trust me, I didn’t bite my tongue. I felt very harsh things at times and I wrote it. Damn it.” Sure enough, Stephen A. is not someone to mince his words if he feels strongly about an issue. And even while addressing the Embiid-Hayes altercation, he detailed both sides of the coin.

While the fiasco continues, one thing stays the same, Joel Embiid’s absence on the court. As soon as that changes, the title hopes for the Sixers, who are embarrassingly sitting with a 1-4 record, will see a surge too. What do you think?