The NBA has fined Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid $75,000 for making obscene gestures toward the Boston Celtics crowd during their Christmas Day game.
NBA Executive Vice President and Chief Basketball Operations Officer Joe Dumars announced the disciplinary action Friday night.
It is alleged that Embiid made a 'fuck you' gesture towards the crowd using both arms.
The incident occurred just days after Embiid angrily confronted referee Jenna Schroeder when he was ejected against the San Antonio Spurs for two technical fouls.
Embiid appeared about to confront Schroeder, but it was unclear from replays whether he made contact with the referee. Certain angles seemed to show her chin making contact with her hands and she was indicating her decision.
An enraged Embiid then charged at the referees after the ejection and was stopped by teammate Kyle Lowry, coach Nick Nurse and several assistants in astonishing scenes.
Joel Embiid has been fined $75,000 for making obscene gestures toward Boston Celtics fans
It comes just days after Embiid angrily confronted referee Jenna Schroeder.
NBA broadcaster Stephanie Ready criticized Embiid's conduct while speaking on the television replay, saying, “It's a foul (on Wembanyama), in every way.” You can see that he is arguing, she is trying to calmly discuss it and he leaves.
'Technical foul, and now look. He approaches and takes a step towards her as if he wants to have a physical confrontation, which I have a problem with. You have to contain it. Now he's out of the game.
'I have a lot to say, as a woman…what the hell was I thinking?'
Analyst Alaa Abdelnaby questioned where Embiid made contact with Schroeder, but said the Philadelphia star had no excuse for seeing red.
'Joel has to be better than that. Good? Because that's too easy for the referees,” Abdelnaby said during the replay. “He's harassing her.”
As the opening scenes played out live, Abdelnaby was shocked by what he was seeing.
“This is unbelievable,” he said, as Embiid exploded. 'This is incredible. This is Mickey Mouse. This is not real. This is a joke… This is a joke.'
Skip Bayless also criticized X after seeing the incident, saying: 'Embiid simply lost his cool (and momentarily his mind) and was ejected in Philadelphia. Surely it wasn't because Wemby already had 7 blocks…'
It's been a frustrating season for Embiid, who has played in just nine of Philadelphia's 28 games.
He missed time with knee and face injuries, and was suspended for three games earlier in the season after shoving a reporter in the locker room after a game.
However, the 76ers beat the Celtics 118-114 on Wednesday to improve to 8-3 in their last 11 games.