Stephen A's Take: Both Joel Embiid and Philly reporter were wrong.

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Stephen A. comments on Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid’s testy exchange with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes,

 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
The other off the court news involved Sixers big man
Joe L. Embiid and a columnist from the Philadelphia Inquirer
by the name of Marcus Hayes.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It happened Saturday night following.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Sixers loss to the Grizzlies, as reporters were entering
the locker room and Bid took exception to a column
written by Hayes. We mentioned in Beid's son and late
brother while questioning his professionalism and effort to stay in shape.
Here's a portion of what Hayes wrote, look at this,
y'all quote. Jarlin Bid consistently points to the birth of

(00:35):
his son, Arthur, as the major inflection point in his
basketball career. He often says that he wants to be
great to leave a legacy for the boy named.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
After his little brother, who tragically.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Died in an automobile accident when in bad was in
his first year as a seventy six er. Well, in
order to be great at your job, you first have
to show up for work. Embiid has been great at
just the opposite. His eleventh season, he consistently has been
in poor condition. This poor conditioning apparently seems to have
delayed his debut this season end quote. On Friday, Ebid

(01:13):
defending himself to reporters when asked about his lack of play.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Take a look at this.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I've done way too much, you know, for this CD
and you know, putting myself out raised. Uh, you know,
for people to be saying so that's all I do think?
Is it like I do? He's not here, Marcus, whatever
his name is. I've done way too much for his
pa to be triered like this.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Then Saturday, things came to a head when Hayes and
Embiid encountered one another in the locker room, and b
was reportedly overheard shouting the following at Marcus Hayes quote,
the next time you bring up my dead brother and
my son again, you are going to see what I'm
going to do to you, and I'm going to have
to live with the consequences end quote, and reportedly eventually
pushed Hayes on the shoulder while the team's public relations

(02:02):
chief got between them a couple of notes to point
this out with an open hand, They said that in
Bead's open hand touched Marcus Hayes's neck and shoulder.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
That's what they say.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
I reached out to EMBIID and through the seventy six
ers to ask him to come on today's show. He
was not made available because the league is still in
conducting an investigation and obviously he's not allowed to speak.
In the case of Marcus Hayes, I reached out to
the Philadelphia Inquirer. That is the paper that I used
to work for for seventeen years. I might add, and
I know Marcus Hayes, okay, as a colleague. I don't

(02:39):
know him intimately on anything like that, but I know
him as a colleague. Marcus Hayes was wrong. Now that
doesn't absolve in Beid and B was wrong too. You
don't put your hands on anybody. You don't engage in
physical violence. You just don't do that. Regardless of what
our society tries to depict and encourage and condone, you
don't do it. And had he done more than that,

(03:02):
he'd be in a world of trouble because it's something
you just don't do.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
So we have to say that.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
But Marcus Hayes was wrong, and I'm going to tell
you why you don't do what he did. M B
has been perpetually injured throughout his career. Marcus Hayes, and
I've read numerous columns that he's written on in BED
over the last several months. Has every right to say

(03:30):
what he said about in Bid, questioning his conditioning, questioning
why the hell would you go and play for Team
USA when you know you've missed so much action for
the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. That's an additional couple of
months that you could have been home getting yourself ready
for this upcoming season. He's accused in BEIID of not
prioritizing the Sixers as much as himself, not prioritizing the

(03:55):
Sixers fan base as much as himself. Whether you agree
or disagree, I am here to say that Marcus Hayes
has every right to write that and every right.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
To say that.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
What you don't do, however, is bring up his brother
who's deceased due to a car accident, and the fact
that the inflection point that you referred to involved in
Be's son, who he named.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
After his late brother. That's pretty damn low. You can't
do that.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
And when I invited Marcus Hayes on this show and
he did not get back to me, I wanted to
emphasize the point that I really thought he crossed the
line with.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
That, but that's it.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Nothing else crossed the line. You're a columnist. You're paid
to editorialize in opine and give your opinion. And if
you feel that this brother is out of shape and
you that he is robbing Sixt's fans season ticket holders,
I think it's over fourteen thousand season ticket holders that

(05:08):
he's robbing the fan base, that the team that's looking
for a new one point fifty five billion dollar new
arena in downtown Philadelphia, and that that's gonna couse taxpayers
their money and they're not getting it's worth from Joel
and b. As a columnist, ladies and gentlemen, he has
every right to write that.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
He has every right to say it.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Go back in the Philadelphia Inquirer and see some of
the columns I've written over the years. Trust me, I
didn't bite my tongue and I felt very harsh things
that Tom's and I wrote it, damn it. So I'm
not about to city and be a hypocrite and call
Marcus Hayes out for that.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
He's not wrong for that.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
But Marcus is a pro and he's been around a
long time. This in Lovers, you can't sink to and
mentioning his dead brother and his son crossed the line
and I and Embiid is one of the nicest guys

(06:15):
you ever want to meet.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
He is a superstar in this league.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
He has box office and has a box office personality
to go along with that.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I love me some, Joel Embiid.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
And if I had been there and I'd had the
pleasure of conversing with Joel Embiid, I would have told
him Marcus crossed the line with that one paragraph about
your dead brother and your son. But I would have
defended Marcus Hayes right to write everything else. And in

(06:46):
fairness to Joel Embiid, he said, talk about me, attack
me all you want to, don't mention my family. He's
right about that. He's right about that, and Marcus Hayes
was wrong about that. Now, in fairness to Mark Hayes,
he tried to apologize and B wasn't hearing it. He
gave some pushback, and B really wasn't hearing that. And

(07:08):
those excerpts that I read to you are now deleted.
But what's done is done. Marcus Hayes is not an amateur.
He's been around a long time. And he knows better
than doing that. So in that regard, I'm giving him
that criticism, but I want to emphasize it's the only criticism.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
And b missus half his games.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
He's never healthy for a full season, and he's only
been healthy for one playoffs, and that was during the
whole COVID delayed.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Season or COVID halted season. Whether you agree or disagree,
Marcus Hayes has every right to write his opinion about
those things. You just didn't have to use.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
His deceased brother and his son to do it.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Excuse my language.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
There's a certain shit you don't do, and deep down
Marcus knows that, which is why he deleted the excerpts
and why he tried to apologize.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
But it was too little, too late after that, and
that's my opinion on it.