PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid’s compassionate side was on display after the 76ers center and New Orleans point guard Jose Alvarado got into a confrontation that led to both players receiving technical fouls in Tuesday’s contest.
With a technical foul comes a fine from the NBA. That didn’t seem right to either player.
So Embiid stepped up and paid Alvarado’s $2,000 fine, the Pelican revealed to the New Orleans media Thursday.
Embiid was later asked why he paid the fine after Thursday’s game against the Lakers.
“I wasn’t expecting that to come out, but I felt bad for him,” Embiid said. “... I watch a lot of basketball. Any time I’m not doing anything, I’m always watching other games and stuff, and I just like his energy. He plays hard, he competes, even when he picked up the tech, he wasn’t backing down.”
Alvarado’s competitiveness in the Sixers’ victory gained Embiid’s respect. As he saw it, their exchange was regular trash talk from two guys going at each other on the court.
“He didn’t back down, and I respected him,” Embiid said. “I like that about him so after the game, I really just went up to him and I told him to keep fighting and to keep it going.”
At the time, Alvarado was on a 10-day contract, which has since turned into a two-way deal. Embiid, who’s making $31.5 million this season, also wanted to take the burden of having to pay a fine off him.
“The other part, I felt like he’s on a 10-day? Oh, he just got signed?” Embiid said when learning that Alvarado signed a two-way contract. “Great. I just felt like that’s the least I could do because I made him pick up the tech and he obviously doesn’t make as much as a lot of guys in the league.
"I just felt like that was on me and I didn’t want him to lose that money because I’m sure we all need it.”
