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Harris is Frustrated With Hawks Fans' Reaction to Embiid Getting Hurt

Sixers forward Tobias Harris was not pleased with Atlanta Hawks fans as they cheered for Joel Embiid's pain on Friday night.

Justin Grasso

Harris is Frustrated With Hawks Fans' Reaction to Embiid Getting Hurt
Harris is Frustrated With Hawks Fans' Reaction to Embiid Getting Hurt /

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks faced off against each other for Game 3 this past Friday night. Joel Embiid, who was questionable for the Sixers heading into the matchup, was cleared for action after going through his pregame warmups.

Lately, Embiid has been battling through a lot. Ever since going down with a knee injury during Game 4 of the first-round series against the Washington Wizards, the star center has been dealing with a torn meniscus.

During Friday night's game, the big man was in some pain, and it showed as he stopped and grabbed at his knee for a moment while his teammates and opponents rushed down to the other end of the court.

As Embiid showed signs of pain, a notable amount of Hawks fans in attendance at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta started to cheer. Many Sixers fans rushed to social media, questioning whether fans were truly cheering for Embiid's pain or not, as it was unclear for those tuned into the broadcast.

Later on in the game, Embiid was in pain once again as he jumped up and went crashing down on the court. As the big man stayed down for a bit, scattered cheers from the crowd broke out before the All-Star center got up, confirming what many questioned earlier. As it was apparent fans were cheering for Embiid's pain, Sixers veteran forward Tobias Harris grew frustrated.

The following day, Harris took to Twitter to express his frustrations with Atlanta fans' behavior during Game 3 on Friday night.

As fans start to pack arenas once again with COVID-19 restrictions beginning to loosen up, the NBA has dealt with many negative fan actions since the postseason started a few weeks back. The Sixers, who fired up their postseason against the Washington Wizards, witnessed their fair share of bad fan behavior from their own crowd and from Washington's.

Now, it seems the Atlanta crowd has gotten under Tobias Harris' skin. While Friday night's actions shouldn't put a bad label on all Atlanta Hawks fans, cheering for a players' pain certainly isn't acceptable, and Harris hopes it doesn't happen again.

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

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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