The Philadelphia 76ers’ woes seem never-ending. They are now on a five-game losing streak after their latest loss against LeBron James’ Lakers. Amid that, something that increases the misery further is Joel Embiid’s suspension from three games. His absence because of “knee injury management” and the lack of clarity about it has already had the team at a disturbing spot. But the worst happened when Philadelphia Enquirer columnist Marcus Hayes went too personal while criticizing Embiid.

Not ready to digest the personal attack, Embiid retaliated, and in the 76ers locker room, he shoved Hayes out of excitement. NBA was not to take this lightly. “Mutual respect is paramount to the relationship between players and media in the NBA. While we understand Joel was offended by the personal nature of the original version of the reporter’s column, interactions must remain professional on both sides and can never turn physical,” the NBA’s League executive Joe Dumars noted.

In light of the shoving incident, Embiid will be suspended for Philadelphia’s matchups against the Clippers, Lakers, and Hornets, According to Shams Charania, setting him up to make his season debut on November 12 against the Knicks. But is Embiid alone at fault? The National Basketball Players Association executive’s words might make you think twice.

During his appearance for The Mark Jackson Show NBPA executive Andre Iguodala spoke about the complexities of the altercation between the Sixers player and the columnist. “Initially, I’m upset because you know a player got suspended and he was essentially reacting to, I feel like what was disrespect and a personal attack on him and his family,” Iguodala explained his concerns after speaking of the inevitable suspension.

An NBA player for 19 years himself, Iguodala highlights the talk that so often surrounds a player’s duty and what they mean to the game, but the current state of journalism may not always be subjected to the same. “I think there we’ve also lost the sense of like what it means to be a journalist nowadays,” he expressed, reflecting on the role it played in the altercation that occurred in the locker room after the 76ers’ 124-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the Wells Fargo Center. 

So while he preaches respectful journalism, name-dropping David Aldridge, he also believes the NBA’s decision comes as a necessary step in abiding by the standards the league needs to set.

“You respect the decision that there was physical contact. It was minimal. But you know… there are consequences in our actions and you got to have compliance with the rules,” he adds. “But we’re still working through some things because we do need to set a higher standard for how our players are spoken to and there should be a standard of professionalism and journalism as well.” Did Hayes really fall from that standard? Here is what he wrote.

“Joel Embiid consistently points to the birth of his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his career. He often says that he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother who tragically died in an automobile accident when Embiid was in his first year as a 76er.” Hayes wrote in an October 23 piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The 7x NBA All-Star’s brother Arthur passed away in a tragic car accident in Cameroon at the age of 13 in 2014. Hayes connected that to Embiid’s absence from the court. “In order to be great at your job, you first have to show up for work. Embiid has been great at just the opposite,” he added. Although he later edited out the paragraphs having the personal jab, the damage was done by then. In fact. although no longer personal, he continued taking digs at Embiid.

“The reality is this: he doesn’t think he needs to play, he doesn’t want to play right now, and therefore will not play. This is the Sixers’ reality for the next five seasons,” referring to Embiid’s recent $193 million extension. Doubling down on his comments, he wrote, “Shame on him for not taking fuller responsibility for his actions, and his inaction.” Understandably, things were approaching a boiling point with all these. Even before the shoving incident, Embiid openly called out Hayes.

“I see people saying ‘he doesn’t want to play.’ I’ve done way too much for this city putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s b——-,” Embiid had said. “Like that dude, he’s not here, Marcus, whatever his name is, I’ve done way too much for this f—— city to be treated like this. Done way too f—— much.” But, while there remains the question of how appropriate was the personal attack, the matter of Embiid’s attention has indeed gone too far and Hayes was not the only one to take note. 

Joel Embiid’s absence has done havoc to the 76ers

Embiid had previously stated that he wouldn’t be playing in both legs of the team’s back-to-back games this season to preserve his health. This did not sit well with Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

During the season’s first episode of TNT’s Inside the NBA, Barkley blasted Embiid saying, “I was so disappointed in Joel Embiid saying he wasn’t going to play back-to-back games. You’re one of the three, four or five best players in the world. You cannot say as a leader of that team, ‘I’m not going to play certain games.’ That’s not the way to start the season. As the best player on that team, and a leader, I would never go into a season saying I’m not going to play back-to-back games. I thought that was a bad message.”

To add to that, Shaq said, “Not only that, it doesn’t make sense. The league isn’t that physical for him to say that. He’s a pick-and-popper, he’s not a big guy. … You don’t get doubled, you don’t get tripled, you don’t get flagrant fouled. There’s no reason to say ‘I’m not playing back-to-back.” His absence looked all the more stark since just before the season started, Embiid was healthy enough to play for the team USA in the Paris Olympics.

Undoubtedly, Embiid is an important piece of the 76ers. He brings a lot of scoring and rebounding to the 76ers, but another part of his game is his free-throw production. Despite missing time over the past four seasons, Embiid leads the league with 2,185 free throws from 2020-2024. He is the only player with more than 2,000 in that span. Players who get to the line consistently give their teams easy, reliable points. Alongside, they slow the game down and put opponents in foul trouble. That’s a huge plus, especially in close games.

The 76ers reasoned the former MVP’s preseason absence “left knee management,” adding that he was “responding well to his individualized plan.” Last year, Embiid played in just 39 games, having been down with a series of knee injuries. He appeared against the Knicks in the postseason, but he was not how we are used to seeing him. Notably, before the Bucks game this year, Sixers coach Nick Nurse had said that Embiid was not injured.

“The plan is why he’s not playing. He did not re-injure himself, but the plan is we don’t feel he’s quite ready, strong enough, light enough, whatever it is. They’ve determined he’s not quite ready to go. Hasn’t been in any full-court scrimmages, etc. And that’s the plan,” Nurse had said. For the unversed, the NBA’s player participation policy requires healthy players to be available to play, and the policy further requires stars to be available for nationally televised games.

Taking note of the developments, the NBA launched an investigation to look into his absence from their season-opening loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on October 29 that the NBA was fining the 76ers $100,000 for “public statements around the health status” of Embiid. As he noted, the league’s investigation showed Philadelphia did not violate the NBA’s player participation policy, but the team’s public comments “did not properly reflect (Embiid’s) health issues with his knee.” Right now, the only thing that probably can clear the mess is Embiid returning and let his performance do the talking.