MUSHY SPORTS COLUMNISTS LOSE WHEN JOEL EMBIID SHOVES MARCUS HAYES
The media profession isn’t filled with tough commentary, so when a Philadelphia writer describes Embiid as a fan-bilking fraud, he should be praised in a business where it’s easier to be soft and lazy
Marcus Hayes is not soft. He’s a Philadelphia sports columnist who doesn’t attempt homerism, weak comedy and malpractice that forces readers to avoid a publication’s liveliest section. We are stunned that he was shoved on the shoulder Saturday night by an irate Joel Embiid, a mope who was healthy in the Summer Olympics and somehow isn’t healthy for the NBA season.
But in facing the physical rigors of writing about a $193 million center who never has reached the conference finals, Hayes has exhibited how a writer demands honesty in a profession of deception. Too many columnists today are quiet and lazy, taking money from bosses who should expect a cutting edge. Hayes thinks Embiid is half-assed and doesn’t care about fans who ultimately pay his salary.
“The least-dependable superstar in the history of the game,” he wrote.
He mentioned Embiid’s son and late brother in an Inquirer column. Was it necessary? If this is a case of defrauding customers, so be it. I have suggested Embiid retire from the sport. Hayes wants him to play basketball in a town where the rival Boston Celtics dominate the league and the rival New York Knicks are second-best in the East. Firing profanities in the 76ers’ locker room after a 124-107 loss to Memphis, Embiid screamed at Hayes.
“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,” he said, suggesting he might throw a punch.
When Hayes apologized, Embiid kept rambling. “That’s not the f—ing first time,” he said, prompting Hayes to say Embiid cares about criticism. That led to the push, which is being investigated by the league office. A security person tried to be a bully, asking reporters to disregard the altercation.
“They can do whatever they want,” Embiid said. “I don’t give a s—.”
Again, Embiid is asked to study the career of Michael Jordan. How many times did the greatest of players perform in all 82 games? Eight. How many times did he play in 81, 80 or 78 games? Three. How many postseason games did he miss in Chicago? None, even when sick in Utah from bad pizza or a hangover. Hayes thinks the Sixers owe fans refunds — for tickets, parking and concessions.
“When I see people saying he doesn’t want to play, I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that,” Embiid said Friday. “I do think it’s bulls–t. I’ve done way too much for this f—ing city to be treated like this. I wish I was as lucky as other ones, but that doesn’t mean I’m not trying.”
Wrote Inquirer basketball reporter Keith Pompey: “Oh, boy, people will remember the Sixers season for all the wrong reasons. The team just dropped to 1-4 and Joel Embiid assaulted a reporter in the locker room.”
I’ve been called a “f—ing fag” by a lunatic baseball manager. I was thrown into a clubhouse pile by the Cincinnati Reds, who claimed to smother me with urine. I was banged in the chest by the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, who was running on the field after a loss. I was blasted on the shoulder by the former editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times, who wanted to know if I was anti-Semitic because a sports owner made the claim in trying to get me fired. Turns out the editor was fired.
You know my trails. When I wrote about a male fan in Chicago who slapped Craig Biggio’s wife during the 2005 World Series, my column was eliminated by Sun-Times editor John Barron. When I wrote about Jordan’s gambling problems, another editor warned it might be my last column at the paper. I kept writing. I continue to write.
Why don’t others?
Columnists don’t have to be mushy. Some think it’s a sad self-commentary if a sports person goes on the attack when, in fact, we are performing the real work when softies fail. Today, I praise Hayes for dealing with Embiid’s words and his shove. In what might be a trillion-dollar industry — with mushheads at sites and gambling idiots at ESPN — it’s more important than ever to seek truth for fans who pay substantial amounts.
No lawsuits are necessary. When Marcus Hayes files his next column, he wins.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.