Joel Embiid’s suspension shows what’s wrong about the NBA and the 76ers

At last, the NBA has spoken about the most recent incident that transpired between Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid and a member of the media after their previous game, handing down a three-game suspension on the center and further postponing his season debut.

Embiid was set to make his season debut in LA, but Philly will now need to sit him out for the rest of their road trip and then some. While this was certainly far from unexpected, the way the league acted on the issue leaves a lot to be desired.

All in all, Embiid’s suspension shows everything that’s wrong about the current state of the NBA, especially the decisions and proclivities of the league’s decision-makers.

The NBA suspending Joel Embiid is pure hypocrisy

Despite Embiid’s admittedly large hater base, public sentiment is clearly in his favor for good reason. What he did was basically justified under the circumstances, as Marcus Hayes’ foul writing was too much of a personal attack to simply let simmer in the expanse of the public eye.

That the NBA endeavored to emphasize preserving the optics of the situation without really imputing any kind of condemnation onto Hayes perfectly encapsulates the league’s hypocritical tendencies.

At this point, it’s public knowledge that the league has inhibited from taking out its hammer when the moral compass prompts exactly that. Remember the ultra-leniency the NBA showed with Miles Bridges? Kevin Porter Jr.? Josh Primo? For some reason, they just don’t have a clue about how to swing their bat the right way. Put simply, their authority has been displaced.

In this case, the lack of protection for the player is difficult to fathom. There has to be some parameters at the very least to give some sense of accountability to the provocations of the media, especially those with patterns of vileness.

Furthermore, the 76ers front office and really, the organization, has to take the center stage in addressing the issue. So far, Embiid has seemingly been demonized in the situation, which is quite the perplexing turn of events when he’s in the right for the most part.

Instead, Daryl Morey and Elton Brand even purportedly apologized to Hayes while admitting that Embiid’s act was unacceptable. While it may have been done in the spirit of damage control, their lack of subsequent inaction is a disappointing omission.

Joel Embiid has done way too much for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise and the league to be treated like a bull in a China shop. The league and the franchise have to be better and more sensible about protecting the players’ interest.