Joel Embiid slammed by analysts and fans for angrily confronting female NBA referee
Joel Embiid faced widespread condemnation on Monday night after the 7ft Philadelphia 76ers star angrily confronted female referee Jenna Schroeder.
Embiid was ejected for his histrionics, where he erupted at Schroeder late in the second quarter for calling a first technical foul against him as he disputed being penalized for challenging Victor Wembanyama.
Embiid seemed on the brink of squaring up to Schroeder, but it wasn't clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. Certain angles seemed to show his chin making contact with her hands and she was signaling her decision.
The 30-year-old Embiid needed to be held back by coach Nick Nurse, 76ers teammate Kyle Lowry and multiple assistants in appalling scenes. Embiid even tore off the mask he was wearing after sustaining a sinus fracture earlier in December.
NBA TV host Stephanie Ready slammed Embiid, saying in the studio Monday: 'It's a foul (on Wembanyama), every which way. You can see he is up disputing it, she is trying to discuss it calmly and he goes off.
'Technical foul, and now look. He approaches and steps to her as if he wants to have a physical confrontation, which I have a problem with. He has to be restrained. He is now out of the game.
Joel Embiid screamed at NBA referee Jenna Schroeder as he was ejected from a 76ers game
Schroeder cold be seen holding her hands up and trying to step away as Embiid erupted
An enraged Embiid charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained
'I have a lot to say, as a woman... what in the world was he thinking?'
Analyst Alaa Abdelnaby questioned where Embiid made contact with Schroeder but said the Philadelphia star had no excuse for seeing red.
'Joel's got to be better than that. Right? Because that's just too easy for the officials,' Abdelnaby said over a replay. 'He's crowding her.'
As the initial scenes unfolded live, Abdelnaby was shocked by what he was watching.
'This is unbelievable,' he said, as Embiid blew up. 'This is unbelievable. This is Mickey Mouse. This isn't real. This is a joke... This is a joke.'
Skip Bayless also took to X after seeing the incident and said: 'Embiid just lost his cool (and momentarily his mind) and got ejected in Philly. Surely it wasn’t because Wemby already had 7 blocks..'
And if Embiid was reading the reactions on social media on Monday night, he wouldn't have seen much support for his actions.
The viral NBA X account '@casualtakeking' shared the clip and said: 'Yeah Joel Embiid earned this ejection. No need to yell in that woman’s face like that with all due respect.'
Another NBA fan account, BricksCenter, shared the clip and said: 'Embiid intimidating a much smaller woman is not it.'
YouTuber Swipa, meanwhile, said: 'Even if you don’t think it was an offensive foul, Embiid ABSOLUTELY lost control and that’s an immediate ejection.'
