Embiid Talks Raptors Fans' Reaction After Getting Injured by Siakam

As the Philadelphia 76ers closed out their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, Sixers center Joel Embiid threw down a slam dunk late in the game amid a Game 6 blowout.

On his way back to the defensive end, Embiid did his infamous airplane celebration, which set Raptors fans off. When Embiid returned to play defense, he took an elbow to the face from Raptors big man Pascal Siakam.

After the game, Embiid joked that Siakam’s elbow might’ve broken his face. As it turned out, Embiid was indeed injured from the play.

The following night, Embiid was diagnosed with an orbital fracture and a mild concussion. As a result, he missed the first two games of the Sixers’ second-round series against the Miami Heat. Exactly one week after receiving his diagnosis, Embiid returned to the floor for the first time since suffering his two injuries.

Discussing the now-infamous play that took place over a week ago, Embiid made it clear that he doesn’t believe Siakam intentionally tried to hurt him. “I don’t think it was intentional,” said Siakam. “That’s my guy. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. I don’t think he meant to do it.”

Many might’ve believed that Embiid would be angry with Siakam because of the way everything went down. Instead, Embiid voiced his frustration with Toronto Raptors fans, who reacted in a way that he didn’t believe was acceptable.

“I was more irritated by the perception of when that happened,” Embiid continued. “You know, I always thought [the Raptors] had great fans, but it kind of changed my mind about their fans. Whether it was throughout the series, the ‘F’ chants and all of that stuff — that’s cool — it never gets to me anyway. I think they got mad because I did the airplane celebration.”

While Embiid zeroed in on Raptors fans due to the way they seemed to have cheered for his injury last week, the All-Star center called out fan behavior all around the NBA, as he believes that sometimes crowd behavior can be unacceptable.

“It’s been going on in a few arenas these days where the fans just feel like it’s okay to say, ‘F somebody.’ There is a bunch of kids in the arena,” Embiid explained. “I don’t think that should be okay. If you respond to it, it’s almost like a Draymond situation and the league fines you. It doesn’t bother me. I’m just speaking for really everybody in the NBA. Like I said, if you give it, you also gotta be able to take it. I’ve said it about our fans, too, when they boo. If the players are going to go back [at them], they’ve got to be able to take it too.”

While the NBA has attempted to crack down on negative fan behavior towards the players in recent years, there are still many instances where players are left displeased. And since retaliation typically results in a fine from the league, Embiid and other players remain somewhat frustrated with the mistreatment.

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