Joel Embiid: Superstar AND Savior of Wells Fargo Employees
The 76ers ownership including majority owner Josh Harris announced on Monday (3/23) that the team would be cutting the salaries of Sixers employees who make over $50,000 by up to 20%.
Rightfully so, this was met with a massive backlash among the NBA world, specifically in Philadelphia. Twitter erupted with anti-Josh Harris takes.
Enter Joel Embiid. Joel Embiid the next day announced he will be donating $500,000 to Sixers employees affected by the virus and those affected by the cuts that the Sixers were implementing.
That same day, after Joel Embiid showed up Josh Harris and the rest of the Sixers ownership, they decided to reverse their decision.
What an embarrassment. It doesn’t matter that the decision was reversed, the fact that this was even a discussion is outrageous and a terrible look for the entire organization.
It’s no surprise to see a cheap decision by the Sixers, but to get absolutely big-timed by one of your own players is nothing short of comedic. Between the insane amount of bad publicity and their own player willing to pay their employees back, they had no choice but to reverse the decision.
This franchise has been on a roll lately.
First, they made the irresponsible decision to play a game against the Detroit Pistons, a game that didn’t mean anything and was against a bad team. There were warning signs about player, staff, and fan safety that they threw into the wind, in order to get one last game in.
We came to find out later that night that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was the first of many NBA players to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Who did the Pistons play the game before the Sixers? The Jazz, where Gobert and Donovan Mitchell play, both were carrying the virus.
What about the Pistons? Oh yeah, Christan Wood, who guarded your star player all night, tested positive as well. There was no way of knowing this at the time but, looking back, the Sixers acted recklessly to grab one last game of ticket sales. Now they pay the price of having three unnamed staff players all testing positive.
Now, they attempt to cut the salaries of employees all to get shown up by their star player?
It’s a joke, and this ownership is exactly that. A joke.
Featured Image: @BJlac83
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