76ers' Joel Embiid Receives a Hefty Fine for His Actions vs. Hawks

This year, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid planned to make a change. After spending his first few seasons in the NBA known as a notorious trash talker, the veteran All-Star claimed he wanted to tone-down his antics in 2020.

At first, Embiid's plan wasn't on track. Early on in the year, a fight ensued between Embiid and his common enemy Karl Anthony-Towns after the two went at it for a couple of quarters. The Sixers' center then followed-up that matchup with some extra yapping on social media before getting himself suspended for two games.

Since that battle, Embiid has been quiet. In an attempt to keep himself out of trouble moving forward, the big man hardly did any talking on the court and even looked uninterested at times. Admittedly, Embiid wasn't having fun.

Therefore, the Sixers' center decided to throw away the quiet guy act and get back to his old self -- for better or for worse. Embiid is back to pumping up the home crowd and dancing on the court when things are going good, which has Sixers fans all around happy with him once again.

However, with the good comes some of the bad. During the final minute of the matchup against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Embiid almost found himself in another altercation. As he attempted to hold onto the ball to run the clock out, Embiid was pick-pocketed by Atlanta's Kevin Huerter.

Knowing there's an unwritten mercy rule that exists amongst NBA players, Embiid grew frustrated and immediately 'flipped the bird' to the Hawks guard. Although Embiid apologized for his actions following the game, he will still have to pay for what he did. Soon, Embiid should expect a fine of $25,000 in the mail from the NBA. He might be sorry, but he still has to pay the price that comes with taking things too far.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_