Full-fledged Sixers-Knicks fan freakout: ref error, flagrants & the Empire State Building!?, 76ers star Kelly Oubre Jr.’s car accident sparks another twisting turn as…
Things are getting so weird we don’t even have time to talk about Tyrese Maxey’s flu, Kelly Oubre Jr,’s car crash or Josh Hart channeling Ray Allen. Fans are losing their minds and it’s the NBA that’s really to blame.
The Sixers got their first win of the 2024 NBA Playoffs at The Center on Thursday, a 125-114 victory over the New York Knicks. Joel Embiid, battling discomfort in his knee from his surgically repaired meniscus and a reportedly minor case of Bell’s Palsy on top, was simply masterful… that is assuming he should have been allowed to finish the ballgame.
But the way this series has played out, the tension almost makes it feel like a throwback to some of the rugged playoff series the Knicks were used to back in the days when Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason were doing all they could to strike the fear of god into all challengers — including dynasties that had them significantly out-talented.
The cheers once people realize Embiid’s hurt is disgusting
Just absolute scum of the earth shit pic.twitter.com/Ocb8DYoVtS
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) April 20, 2024
(I’m talking about the passion, not the gameplay, Oak would probably call everyone wimps, the players and fans, for whining for such marginal contact).
Neither fanbase has enjoyed an NBA title since 1983. Neither has enjoyed a Conference Finals or Finals run since 2001. There’s been The Process in Philly, the James Dolan quarter-century in NY, so it all makes some sense there’d be some rabid interest from all sides…but unlike the last time the Knicks had a really good team in 1999, Twitter and social media have added rocketfuel to what surely would have been an already blazing fire.
Donte DiVincenzo did literally this to Kelly Oubre a month ago oh my god I hate the Knicks so muchpic.twitter.com/N5T5PSjtuQ https://t.co/8ALzCF8M3J
— Chris OIIey (@chrisoIIey) April 26, 2024
Pop the reigning MVP’s name into Twitter and scroll through. Instead of seeing highlight reels from one of the best playoff games a player has ever had vs. the Knicks, you’re likely to be bombarded with compilations of #EMFLOP, dirty plays, drooping eye gags and general “f—k Embiid” mayhem.
Even the suddenly nervous Empire State Building is wimpily closing its doors to Joel after another dominant performance.
The Liberty Bell, by contrast, remains unflinching under pressure — battle-scarred, stoic, prepared to welcome all visitors regardless of creed or allegiance, with Liberty, and Justice for All.
Just look at its hardened, steely-ice game-face now:
Embiid, battling through discomfort in his surgically repaired left knee, and an unfortunate case of Bell’s Palsy, is unlike The Bell, opting for at least the brace and some pregame shades.
But some Knicks fans seem to think it may merely be NBA propaganda.
The F-Embiid stuff began in the series during first couple of games at MSG. It seems in The Big Apple, there is a real loathe for your favorite team’s hero.
And now both fan bases are frothing at the mouth.
Stuff that enraged people from Game 1 now feel like a decade ago, after the L2M from Game 2 came out, and Game 3.
I won’t bother reminding you about the gory details, but Game 2 was one of the worst losses in franchise history.
The truth of the matter is that this series features two foul hunters in Embiid and Jalen Brunson, but only one really has the national reputation for it to date.
And it’s hurt the Sixers in more than one playoff series now (you remember how you couldn’t sneeze on Trae Young, while the umps really let Joel and Clint Capela throw some haymakers back in 2021).
And nowEmbiid has committed a series of controversial, if not outright dirty, fouls in Game 3.
But had Joel been ejected, I might have spent the rest of my life wondering any Knicks didn’t receive similar repurcussions for perhaps even more blatant tactics recently:
Blame the refs not the players
But for my money, the league is most at fault here for the current divide and wrath coming from the Knicks fan base at Embiid’s Sixers, and from the Sixers fanbase at officiating.
76ers star Kelly Oubre Jr.’s car accident sparks police to launch internal affairs investigation
The Philadelphia police department has launched an internal investigation after 76ers star Kelly Oubre Jr. got into a car accident earlier this week.
The department’s internal affairs division is looking into officers’ response and actions at the scene of the crash that involved the guard and another driver hours after the 76ers fell to the Knicks in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series, according to TMZ Sports.
On Monday night, Oubre’s 2021 Lamborghini reportedly “disregarded a red traffic signal” and slammed into a 2023 Hyundai Elantra at 1:45 a.m.
Both cars were towed from the scene.
No injuries were reported and the other driver has not been identified.
“Everything is good,” Oubre said after Game 3, according to USA Today. “I’m OK. The people that were involved were OK, but I need to probably get a driver or something and just stay off the road and behind the wheel, but everything is good. I’m good. I was still able to do my job and support my family and things are great.”
According to TMZ, the police may be looking into whether Oubre received special treatment after the incident.
The 28-year-old was not issued a ticket for the traffic violation nor was a breathalyzer or blood test issued to see if drugs or alcohol were a factor.
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