Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is suspended for three games following his physical confrontation with veteran columnist Marcus Hayes, caused by the latter’s hit piece mentioning the former’s late brother and son.
Joel Embiid hasn’t made his regular season debut because of a knee injury and has been criticized for it. However, Paul Hembekides of ESPN jumps to his defense, saying that the amount of criticism toward the 2023 MVP is unfair.
“This is a person who has played in the playoffs through an orbital bone fracture through Bell’s palsy, who has had legitimate major knee concerns and operations and issues and injury dating to his college days,” Hembekides said during his recent appearance on Greeny. “It’s easy for us and our ivory towers to say that Joel Embiid should play 82 games a year and 30 minutes a night. It’s not reality. It’s not realistic.”
“And Marcus Hayes, of all people who have theoretically watched every game that Joel Embiid has ever played, should understand that. You can’t be critical that he’s load-managing this season and also be critical that he’s not. There’s no question this column crosses the line,” he added.
Joel Embiid will make his regular season debut with the Philadelphia 76ers soon
After serving his three-game suspension, Joel Embiid will make his much-awaited regular season debut next Tuesday when the Philadelphia 76ers host the New York Knicks.
It also happens to be the opening game of this season’s NBA Cup, where the Philadelphia 76ers have a shot of winning silverware, especially if Embiid is back to his MVP form.
In the meantime, Andre Drummond will continue to start and log heavy minutes at the center position for the Philadelphia 76ers.
