Sixers’ Joel Embiid irritated with Raptors fans for chanting “F Embiid” after Pascal Siakam’s elbow gave him a fractured orbital and concussion
Embiid: “But I was more irritated by the perception of when that happened, really their fans. I’ve always thought they’ve had great fans. But it kind of changed my mind about their fans up there.”
Joel Embiid was asked an obvious question.
He suffered a concussion and orbital fracture near his right eye when he received an elbow on April 28 from Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam in the 76ers’ Game 6 victory to clinch the first-round series.
The elbow came 12 seconds after Embiid dunked to put the Sixers up 29 points and extended his arms like an airplane to celebrate. The Scotiabank Arena crowd booed him for his actions. Then their boos turned to cheers and F Embiid chants after Siakam injured him.
The injury forced him to miss Games 1 and 2 of the Sixers’ Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Miami Heat. He returned donning a protective mask Friday’s 99-79 Game 3 victory.
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On Friday, Embiid was asked if he thought his fellow Cameroonian’s elbow was intentional.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think it was intentional. That’s my guy, obviously. It’s unfortunate. I don’t think he meant to do it.
“But I was more irritated by the perception of when that happened, really their fans. I’ve always thought they’ve had great fans. But it kind of changed my mind about their fans up there.”
The Raptors fans chanted “F Embiid” throughout the series games in Toronto. Embiid didn’t have a problem with that. He said that’s cool.
But he did mention that those types of chants are going on in a few arenas when fans feel like it’s Okay to say “F somebody.”
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“There’s a bunch of kids in the arena,” he said. “I don’t think that should be okay even if there wasn’t kids. But it’s almost like, if you respond to it, it’s almost like, in the [Golden State Warrior] Draymond [Green] situation, the league fines you.
“So to me, it doesn’t bother me; I’m just speaking for really everybody in the NBA. if you give it, you also got to be able to take it. And I’ve said it about our fans too, when they boo, if the players are going to go back, you got to be able to take it too.”