Joel Embiid under investigation after altercation with reporter in locker room

While he has yet to play this season, Philadelphia Sixers star Joel Embiid is under investigation by the NBA after an alleged locker room altercation with a reporter, multiple media outlets reported Saturday Americans.

Embiid allegedly shoved a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist who recently wrote a critical comment against him, referring to the 30-year-old center’s son and late brother.

“We are aware of reports of an incident in the Sixers locker room this evening and are beginning an investigation.”declared an NBA spokesperson cited by the American media.

Embiid, the NBA’s best player in 2023, who also won gold at the Paris Olympics with the United States this summer, has not played at all this season due to a knee injury . In his absence, the Sixers got off to a bad start, including their fourth defeat in five matches, conceded at home on Saturday against Memphis (124-107).

“No punch” but a shove

The journalist ofESPN Shams Charania said that after this setback, Embiid embarked on a “verbal exchange” with the reporter who wrote the critical article, Marcus Hayes of the Inquirer.

“Embiid objected to a recent article that referenced his deceased brother and son, and Embiid shoved the reporter. There was no punch”explained Charania.

In a recent op-ed focusing on Embiid’s ongoing injury issues, Hayes questioned the Sixers star’s commitment to the «grandeur» of his sport. “Joel Embiid regularly talks about the birth of his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his basketball career”Hayes wrote.

“He often says he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother, who died tragically in a car accident when Embiid was in his first year as a Sixer” in October 2014, according to the text. “To be great at your job, you first have to show up for work. Embiid has shown himself to be great at doing just the opposite.Hayes snapped.