Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Twitter had thoughts on a hard foul Joel Embiid committed against Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Sixers center Joel Embiid has been a divisive figure in the NBA since his debut.
At first, the division was over whether he was a savior or a bust. Now, the division is between generational talent or flop-heavy talent?
Those who argue the latter got some more ammunition on Friday night when Joel Embiid committed a foul against Giannis Antetokounmpo that ended up being called a flagrant 1:
Embiid moved over to stop Antetokounmpo, no easy task. In order to do so quickly, he had to put himself in an awkward position that resulted in him lowering his shoulder. The result looked a lot more like a football play than a basketball move (especially given Embiid’s significant stature), which is why it was called a flagrant.
Many, including ESPN color commentator Doris Burke, thought it should have been a flagrant 2 which would have resulted in an automatic ejection for Embiid. The officials agreed that it wasn’t a basketball play but did not agree that the foul fit the “unnecessary and excessive” qualification.
Twitter roasted Joel Embiid for flagrant foul against Giannis Antetokounmpo
Some wondered how in the world Embiid ended up on the floor. That speaks to the strength of Giannis more than anything:
Others considered how Embiid seems to get away with things like this more than other players. That’s kind of the norm for star players in the NBA, to be fair.
There were some people on Embiid’s side, too, though:
It was definitely a foul, but whether or not it was ejection-worthy is seemingly up for debate.