Not only is Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers one of the best players in the entire NBA, but he’s also proving himself to be one of the coolest.
Despite all his success and his incredible basketball talent, Embiid has remained grounded and classy throughout his career.
He’s been known to crack a few jokes, remain kind to his fans, and even have some fun on Twitter.
All in all, he seems like a genuinely decent human no matter how much money and fame he finds.
This was made even more evident this week when Embiid stepped up and showed his humanity yet again.
If only more multi-millionaires could be like this.
Embiid Vs. Alvardo
In a Tuesday night game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Embiid was once again making his presence on the floor known.
With 4:45 left in the second quarter, Embiid was a part of a foul that knocked Pels guard Garrett Temple down.
Temple’s teammate, guard Jose Alvarado, was visibly upset and got into Embiid’s face.
The two had some words on the floor, and both drew technical fouls.
It’s not uncommon to see NBA stars bicker and go toe-to-toe but this instance was a little more interesting because Embiid is seven-feet-tall and 280 pounds while Alvarado is…not.
The guard is listed at six-feet-tall and 179 pounds.
Jose Alvarado and Joel Embiid just got double techs for barking at each other.
Yes that is a real tweet lol.
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 26, 2022
So if Embiid wanted to, he could have ended Alvarado’s night.
However, that was the end of the skirmish except for the fines that the NBA would write up.
The league fines players $2,000 for their first five technical fouls of the season, and then $3,000 for fouls six through 10, $4,000 for 11-15, and then the fine is $5,000 and a one-game suspension for any tech after that.
Being as he’s only in the first bracket, Alvarado would be paying $2,000.
But that’s when Emiid stepped in again.
Picking Up The Tab
On Thursday afternoon, Alvarado told reporters that Embiid was going to cover the fine for the foul.
MVP…..RT @JClarkNBCS: Joel Embiid picked up the tab!
He paid the $2000 fine for Jose Alvarado after beating Jose and the Pelicans Tuesday night
— Donte Harris (@TayMoney3) January 28, 2022
That means that even though it was Alvarado who started the dust-up, Embiid was going to take care of it.
Speaking with ESPN, Embiid explained why he was paying the fee:
“I just like his energy. He plays hard. He competes. Even when he picked up the tech, he wasn’t backing down. He was just regular trash talk. Just two guys going at each other on the basketball court. He didn’t back down. I respected that. I like that about him.”
Embiid continued, saying he felt that Alvarado’s tech was “on” him and that paying the fine was “the least” he could do.
The 76ers superstar said the two had kind words for each other after the game.
It’s also important to note that Embiid had no plans to make his move public – it only became a topic in the press when Alvarado let it slip.
There are no harsh feelings on Alvarado’s side either, as he told ESPN “It was all heat of the moment. Nothing personal.”
Embiid is one of a few current NBA stars who seem to have quite a big heart (Giannis Antetokounmpo also comes to mind) and it’s always nice and refreshing to see when all the money and fame doesn’t go to someone’s head and they remain good people.
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