Ad Disclosure
Why Was Amir Johnson on His Cell Phone While the Sixers Were Losing a Playoff Game?
Published:
The Sixers looked incredibly poor in their game one playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Observations tomorrow morning, but first let’s sidebar the cell phone story.
If you haven’t seen it, Amir Johnson was filmed on the national broadcast, showing Joel Embiid something on his cell phone when the Sixers were losing in the second half:
https://twitter.com/BBallSociety_/status/1117170881363619840
Said Brett Brown after the game:
“First, it’s completely unacceptable. And secondly, we will deal with it internally, I’m sure very soon. It’s not something we are about, and I really don’t even know, I think all of us should learn a little bit more than maybe certainly I do, but on first glance, it is not something that we are and certainly don’t condone. The club will deal with it.”
Embiid came to the podium shortly after Brown and offered this explanation:
“Obviously I wasn’t on my phone. I just looked down because he said his daughter was extremely sick and he was checking on her. I dunno. I just looked. He was checking on his daughter. She’s sick.”
Johnson was seen leaving the Sixers bench shortly after the clip was shown on TV, after the jump:
Amir Johnson headed to the locker room minutes after the broadcast showed he and Joel Embiid going through a phone on the bench. pic.twitter.com/pnKVBKImFr
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 13, 2019
For context, the NBA doesn’t allow players to use their cell phones on the bench. Violations result in fines and possibly suspension.
Update:
The Sixers sent out a pair of statements a short time ago:
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com