Nah. He's lucky there weren't charges filed, though Hayes would have never wanted that either. Hayes sucks, and it's a big fail by his editors too for publishing it in the first place, but you can't be a pro athlete physically engaging with a journalist, whether you are Brett Myers or Joel Embiid. And he (Hayes) had already apologized for the stuff about Arthur specifically online (along with deleting it) and was trying to do so there too. Embiid specifically called him out for not showing up at the Friday press conference (which was called at the last minute) and then he showed up. The Sixers brass (both Morey and Brand) knew Hayes was going to be there and the first thing they did after it happened was meet with Hayes to apologize for what Joel did. So I'd say between that and this whole mess about Joel's injury or non-injury we should be more worried about what's going on with this team, not the sportswriter. If Marcus Hayes can get in your head you're as flawed a player as Marcus Hayes thinks you are.
It would have been hilarious if he was suspended for games he wasn't going to play anyway, but somehow the NBA intends to make sure that it doesn't begin until he's ready and able to play. But, load management either way. Will cost him $1,000,000, maybe we can have a GoFundMe.
Might as well concede the next couple games. Paul George really can’t score 1v5, let’s hope we don’t get shutout.
I'm sure the Sixers will be fine in the long run, even if "fine" means having to get out of the play-in again. Whether they'll be fine in (or even playing games) May, or healthy enough to do so, is a whole other issue.
So, Joel is pretty much certain to play onnextTuesday, right? Like, if he still isn't ready to go, the league could say that means he wasn't healthy enough to start serving his suspension.
I can’t imagine that he won’t play. 15 minutes maybe? Maybe a little more. You are right the league will be very upset if he isn’t activated.
The Sixers are going to be constantly on the leagues “uncooperative” list this year I have a feeling. They plan to sit players, I suspect a lot.
Oh if he plays I bet he plays 30. But we already know he won't play Wednesday. And yeah it was pretty much rhetorical, I'm sure the team and the league had to get on the same page about it especially given the league had already ruled that he was indeed hurt, not just being load managed.
They are going to have to resolve this at some point since the leagues and players aren't going to care about fines or even not winning MVP etc.
Wait, isn't the Knicks game also a tournament game? (Yup, it is.)
Ahh, the tournament. I assume the players care even less about this contrived stupidity than I do (and did last year). Who will be the 2025 1/2 Champion? I wouldn’t be surpised to learn that the players reverse brag about it (I.e. I am not acting happy about this silly thing). 6 games to decide….. who won the most of 6 games.
As bad a start as the Sixers have had, I'm not too worried. The Pacers are 3rd in the conference standings at 5-5...
And Embiid and George are out tonight against the back end of the back and back against the 12-0 Cavs. Expect 2-9 after this one.
McCain can score for sure! He needs to improve his game inside the arc and at the basket to be a complete offensive player, and with his lack of length and limited jumping ability he may never be an above average finisher at the rim. Still, an amazingly good pick where they were choosing last year.
We won't talk about his defense. Usually takes rookie guards a few years to figure that out, especially if they are not super-quick or long, which he isn't.
McCain is likely not going to have so much of the ball in the ideal version of this team but it would be a massive bonus if he could lead the second unit and put up 15 points a night or similar.
Wonder though if he ends up getting traded mid season.
Sixers lose tonight with Embiid and George in the lineup, 98 - 86 to the Magic. McCain led the Sixers with 29 points, Embiid had 20, George had 13 and little else scoring from the rest of the team. They are putrid right now and I was not worried about the slow start, but I'm starting to think this team is not going to come around.
It is going to take these guys a while to learn to play together. Magic are good at home, but were missing Banchero tonight. On the good side, it was probably McCain's best game.--He was the only player on the team with a positive +/-. Oubre has been pretty awful in most games (and wasn't good tonight); they are playing Lowry too much, and George was inefficient and not helpful tonight. Nurse seems to have no idea how to get this to work. It's a bad time right now to be a Sixers fan.
Hitting on the McCain pick has real long-term upside benefits to the team, though. Gotta get something working soon...
70 games remaining after tonight. The 8th playoff seed finished with 46 wins, last season. Maybe this year, the 8th seed finishes with 42. The Sixers will need to win 40 of 70, .571 win percentage. Perhaps they'll go through a hot streak, but at the moment, it looks like they will struggle to get the 8th seed.