Antonio Daniels Livid at Joel Embiid-Marcus Hayes Situation, Desperately Wants Former MVP to Prove Detractors Wrong

It didn’t take long for Joel Embiid to find himself amid controversy in the 2024-2025 season. After receiving flack for missing the start of the campaign, Embiid is now being criticized for getting into an altercation with NBA columnist, Marcus Hayes. The Philly star’s actions have been denounced by many in the sports media industry. But Antonio Daniels took Embiid’s side in this controversy and declared that he wishes for the 2023 MVP to succeed now more than ever.

Hayes was critical of JoJo in his column at The Philadelphia Inquirer for missing the start of the season due to a knee injury. The Inquirer’s columnist wrote a harshly-worded article which criticized Embiid’s poor conditioning and lack of commitment, but more importantly, it mentioned the Philly star’s deceased brother and four-year-old son.

Embiid was infuriated by the mention of his family members and confronted Hayes after Saturday’s game against the Grizzlies. Things soon got heated and the Sixers star ended up shoving Hayes during a profanity-laced altercation

Daniels addressed the situation and admitted that all the criticism against Embiid’s absence is warranted. But at the same time, the Spurs legend wants Embiid to witness success more than ever to silence the detractors.

“All this flack that Joel Embiid is catching, I’m not saying it’s unwarranted. It’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is because of the way that certain people have handled this, I want to see him go out and succeed. I do, especially because of the way this whole thing transpired,” Daniels said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.

“I never wanted him to succeed more”

@adaniels33 has strong feelings on what happened Saturday night between Joel Embiid and Marcus Hayes pic.twitter.com/OmM8JnB1pJ

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) November 4, 2024

The NBA is still investigating this squabble between the two. But Daniels firmly believes that Embiid didn’t do anything wrong. Rather, the media member crossed a line by talking about his family members.

Daniels also warned Hayes that such malicious reporting would estrange him in the NBA community and players would refrain him from giving any important information.

Numerous fans have also been siding with the 30-year-old superstar. They have been lauding him for the way the situation was handled – shoving instead of throwing a punch.