A Philadelphia 76ers commentator has come under fire over some controversial comments made about Australian Josh Giddey, who fell awkwardly and nearly injured himself during Oklahoma City’s loss today.
While Giddey’s Thunder went down 115-103 to the 76ers, the Australian guard gave his best effort late in the game to keep the scores close.
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Trailing by 13 points with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Thunder had a fast break opportunity, with Giddey receiving the ball close to the basket before his lay-up attempt resulted in a foul after superstar 76er Joel Embiid contested the attempt.
Embiid, who’s listed at 127kg, crashed into Giddey which sent the Australian tumbling onto the hardwood.
With Embiid well known for his injury battles in recent seasons, 76ers announcer Alaa Abdelnaby raised eyebrows by not only criticising the Thunder and Giddey for not giving up on the game, but neglecting the injury concern to the 19-year-old.
“My question would be: Why are you still running fast breaks?” Abdelnaby said.
“If you don’t want us to play hard, why are you running hard?
“Jo Jo [Joel Embiid] is just not going to give up the easy two.
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“I just worry about when he (Embiid) falls. No offence to Giddey, I could care less (about him falling).
“But this guy, you don’t want to see him fall awkwardly because you worry as a Sixers fan.”
Abdelnaby’s call resulted in fierce backlash across social media as fans and pundits voiced their frustrations.
https://twitter.com/AgentMoldovan/status/1452466546463297537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1452466546463297537%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-1336343354078874641.ampproject.net%2F2110011758000%2Fframe.htmlhttps://twitter.com/PeterHooley12/status/1452458474902736901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1452458474902736901%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-1336343354078874641.ampproject.net%2F2110011758000%2Fframe.htmlhttps://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1452481012806553601https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1452482405420265476https://twitter.com/danieljcarrr/status/1452462722046521344?s=20
Meanwhile, it was a positive outing individually for Giddey.
The No.6 pick in this year’s draft stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
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