Joel Embiid calls out LeBron James and the referees over dirty foul

The Philadelphia 76ers just put up a huge effort to hold on and beat the Los Angeles Lakers at home. It was a clash between the two best teams in the NBA right now and it sure didn’t disappoint the fans.

And, once again, Joel Embiid carried the load for Doc Rivers’ team, proving that he’s perhaps the best big man on earth and demonstrating why he’s the frontrunner to win the MVP Award this season.

Embiid had a field day with Marc Gasol guarding him and Frank Vogel didn’t want to put Anthony Davis on him. As per usual, that meant that the African superstar got to the free-throw line almost at will.

Joel Embiid Calls Out Referees Over LeBron James’ Hard Foul

However, one of the times that Embiid was on the charity stripe wasn’t thanks to one of his tricks. Instead, LeBron James pushed him with two hands and Joel fell on his back. It was quite a toughand dangerous foul and the Sixers’ star believes that James should have been ejected for it:

“That was a hard foul. If that was me, I would’ve been ejected from the game. I thought it should’ve been a flagrant 2,” Embiid said.

LeBron has never been known for being a dirty player. In fact, that was just the sixth flagrant foul of his career and the first in the past 7 years. Then again, he could’ve easily been thrown out if it wasn’t for his pedigree in the league.

LeBron James Lauds Embiid’s Ability To Get Fouled

The King admitted that the Los Angeles Lakers needed to do a better job of keeping their rivals away from the free-throw line, claiming that it was the main reason why their comeback attempt didn’t come through. Also, he lauded Embiid’s ability to draw contact and get whistles:

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“The first quarter we put them to the line way too much. (…) It allowed them to get their defense set. (…) besides that, we held them to 21 points in second, 26, and 26, and gave ourselves the opportunity to win at the end (…) I love our fight,” LeBron said. “We have to do a better job of keeping our hand out of the cookie jar (…) Embiid has Harden-like magic with those swipes,” he concluded.

Joel Embiid finished the night with 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 1 three-pointer, and 11 free-throws, while LeBron James had a game-high 34 points with 6 rebounds and 6 assists in what might as well be a preview of the next NBA Finals.