Joel Embiid to critics: ‘I’ve done way too much for this f*cking city to be treated like this’

The Philadelphia 76ers’ 2024-2025 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start. Not only is the team 1-3 but they’ve been playing without star Joel Embiid who continues to deal with a left knee injury.

Adding insult to injury, the Sixers have been mired in controversy as they’ve been extremely reticent to discuss the specifics around Embiid and his playing schedule. The franchise was fined $100,000 over statements about his health status as part of a league investigation into their stated plans to limit his play.

Friday, Embiid spoke with reporters about the situation and his injury, launching into an NSFW rant in response to a column from Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes.

Wednesday, Hayes published a column titled “Sixers plan to sit Joel Embiid early and often. They should give fans refunds for games without him.” In the piece, he referred to Embiid as “the least-dependable superstar in the history of the game” and argued that the team should refund fans who bought tickets under the assumption that the superstar would be playing.

“Joel Embiid, the biggest star in Philadelphia, who will make more than half a billion dollars for playing basketball here, is electively not playing in games for which fans have prepaid in the clear hopes that they will be entertained by him as much as, if not significantly more than, any of his teammates,” Hayes wrote. “And here’s the rub: This fraud will continue.”

Embiid was asked about the approach that the Sixers have taken with him and his injury on Friday, and he used it as an opportunity to push back on Hayes and other critics.

“It was never decided. Like I said, everybody has been on the same page. If your body doesn’t react well and your body tells you one thing—I’ve done it,” Embiid told reporters. “From what I can tell you, I’ve broken my face twice. I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. I had broken fingers. I still came back so I’m not gonna sit here and be like—when I see people saying he doesn’t want to play. I’ve been through way too much. I’ve done way too much for this city and putting myself at risk for people to be saying that so I do think it’s bullsh*t.

“Like, that dude, he’s not here, Marcus whatever his name is. I’ve done way too much for this f*cking city to be treated like this so I’ve done way too f*cking much, but like I said, I wish I was as lucky as other ones, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not trying and I’m not doing whatever it takes to be out there which I’m gonna be here pretty soon.”

Embiid added that it’s been “extremely difficult” to sit out the season so far and explained that he “should be back pretty soon.”

[Sixers Wire, 94WIP]