Joel Embiid has been penalized for his criticism of NBA referees.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the young center has been fined $25,000 by the NBA following his comments after the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a tough loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.
76ers star Joel Embiid has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing officials Tuesday night.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 13, 2019
Embiid and the Sixers suffered a tough 112-109 loss on Tuesday night, falling to the Celtics -- who were playing without Kyrie Irving -- in a thrilling game. Understandably, the big man was a bit frustrated afterward.
At the end of this postgame press conference, Embiid let out some of that frustration, taking the mic to say, "These referees f------ sucked," before walking out.
In particular, Embiid was likely upset about a call in the final minute. Posting up against Al Horford, he swung his arms up into the Celtics big man, but was not rewarded with the call, despite the fact that it looked like Horford's arm was horizontal and not straight up. The Celtics took the loose ball and Marcus Smart threw down a dunk on the other end that put the Celtics up four -- a huge swing.
Not only did the Sixers lose another game to one of their Eastern Conference rivals, but Embiid once again struggled against Horford. Yes, Embiid managed to finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but it took him 22 shots to get there.
Including the loss on Tuesday night, the Sixers are now 3-13 against the Celtics since the 2016-17 season, which was the first one Embiid played in. Additionally, this loss drops the Sixers to 1-7 against the Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors this season -- the other three main contenders in the Eastern Conference.
