Joel Embiid is Pleased Josh Harris, Sixers Reversed Pay Cuts for Employees

Sixers center Joel Embiid planned to cover the 20-percent pay cut that team employees were going to suffer. Fortunately, he no longer has to as Josh Harris reversed the decision.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to live on in the United States of America, the sports world has become non-existent. Instead of all eyes being on games, standings, and players' performances -- all eyes are on organizational ownership for professional teams to see how the billionaires react to situations in this time of need.

No sports right now means no jobs for a lot of people. Two weeks ago, Wells Fargo Center employees were unsure if they were going to collect a paycheck for the next few months as teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Flyers, Wings, etc. go on a hiatus.

While Wells Fargo Center employees' hourly wages are not the Sixers responsibility entirely, the team's Managing Partner, Josh Harris, did confirm that he, along with Wells Fargo Center's ownership, Comcast Spectator, would help cover those workers' paychecks for the games that will be postponed for the time being.

Harris might not have been the only Managing Partner around the NBA to do such a thing, but not every organization was willing to step up in such a way. For that, Harris looked like the good guy. That was the case until he planned to issue his organization's salaried employees a pay cut of up to 20-percent in April to necessarily 'save' them from getting laid off during this downtime in sports.

Considering it's public knowledge that Harris has a net worth of over $3 billion, many were not happy to hear about the cuts. Employees were apprehensive about the situation, and fans were constantly expressing their frustrations via social media. The Sixers looked like the bad guys, and they needed somebody to step up in this time of need.

That's when the franchise's All-Star center, Joel Embiid, stepped up and became an off-the-court leader for the Sixers. On Tuesday, it was reported Joel Embiid planned to donate $500,000 to COVID-19 medical relief. In addition, the millionaire center was also willing to cover the losses that Sixers' salaried employees would suffer as a result of the organization's decision to force pay cuts.

In these trying times, I’m proud of the Sixers organization for reversing course and “doing a 180”. Let’s focus on beating this Coronavirus now. Let’s be responsible and Trust the Process!!

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) March 24, 2020

With all of the initial backlash from Harris' plans, and Embiid's willingness to fork over some of his own money, the Sixers owner realized he couldn't go through with the cuts. Therefore, on Tuesday afternoon, the plan was reversed. And because of that, Embiid was pleased the Sixers went ahead and did the right thing.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_