What happened between Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre? Know about altercation between Sixers teammates
Taking a look into what led to the on-court scuffle between Sixers teammates Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. in Friday's loss to the Pistons
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Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. got into an argument
The Philadelphia 76ers tragic season only goes from bad to worse. After months of struggling to assemble their brand new big three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey on the court, the Sixers finally saw them together on Friday night. However, their struggles on the court continued as they suffered a 125-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons, leading to a flare-up between Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr.
The incident occurred during the third quarter when Malik Beasley finished a fastbreak layup to extend the Pistons’ lead to 19 points. The Sixers called a timeout, which saw things get heated on their bench, with Joel Embiid calling out Oubre for his lack of defensive effort on the transition layup. Embiid seemed to be frustrated by Oubre jogging back on defense, allowing the Pistons to score without contest.
Joel Embiid & Kelly Oubre hug it out after a HEATED exchange 😅
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 8, 2025
Tough night for Philly in Detroit 😬 pic.twitter.com/U4C8M7Z2Vs
As the two went back and forth with each other, the situation quickly escalated in the timeout. Both Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. got involved in a back-and-forth shouting match, with their teammates looking on in equal parts shock and frustration. Thankfully for the morale of the team, Embiid and Oubre did not let the situation build further into an ugly scenario for the Sixers’ locker room.
Both stars cooled their tempers after the heated altercation and came back later to hug it out with each other. Unfortunately, that did not help the Sixers on the court. They were down by nearly 34 points at one point in the game and were never able to climb out of that hole. The loss is especially embarrassing for the Sixers as the Pistons were without their best player, Cade Cunningham.
Nick Nurse addresses altercation between Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr.
Expectations were high for the 76ers coming into Friday’s game, with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George all coming back into the lineup. However, the scuffle between Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. took much of the spotlight after the game, especially in light of their disappointing loss. Postgame, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse addressed the incident, shedding some light on the altercation.
I think it had to do with getting back in transition, right? I think we weren’t playing well. We’re fighting our way back into the game and we’d taken away most of those transition plays, and there was an exchange. But I think it happens once in a while. Like you said, at least they got on the same page when it was over with.
Nick Nurse told reporters after the game
While much of Embiid’s frustrations were directed towards Oubre, that did not excuse the abominable outing from the former MVP. Embiid scored just 3 points in the entire first half, going 1-9 from the field, before showing some signs of life in the 3rd quarter by scoring 20 points. At the end of the game, Embiid ended with 23 points, as his second-half efforts were too late to rescue the Sixers.
Oubre, on the other hand, was one of the better performers for Philadelphia in the first half, scoring 12 points. He ended the game by scoring only two more points in the second half, ending the game with an unambitious 14 points. No matter the stats, the bottom line is that the entire Sixers roster, along with Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr., were uninspiring right from the get-go, and the results spoke for themselves.
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Armaan Gupta
(411 Articles Published)