The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their first round series Saturday afternoon, thanks to D’Angelo Russell’s 26 points and a tough showing from everyone outside of Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler.
It was an ugly scene for the Sixers at their home arena, with Ben Simmons posting just nine points on 4-of-9 shooting. Tobias Harris and JJ Redick had a rough showing as well, finishing with just four and five points, respectively. Somehow, the numbers weren’t the only bad look for the home squad at Wells Fargo Arena.
Trailing by 16 points with six minutes left in regulation, ESPN’s cameras captured Embiid and Amir Johnson looking at a cell phone on the bench. Not the best look if you ask us.
Twitter, as usual, jumped all over it right away with some hysterical reactions.
What Amir Johnson was showing Embiid on his phone 😭 pic.twitter.com/LtzVYLUmIu
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) April 13, 2019
Nets win Game 1😬 pic.twitter.com/d4CiZxBjdQ
— SB Nation (@SBNation) April 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/jtylerconway/status/1117170815403986945
They’re using the calculator app to add up Embiid and Simmons’ combined plus-minus (it’s -40) pic.twitter.com/2oUOy7NlFS
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) April 13, 2019
— Leo (@Leo__ffs) April 13, 2019
Amir Johnson checking out texts on the bench during the game. What a joke. Even more shocking is that Johnson in his 14th season in the NBA.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 13, 2019
Sixers head coach Brett Brown reacted to the incident postgame, calling it “completely unacceptable”.
Embiid, speaking after Brown, was asked about the incident and told reporters in Philadelphia that Johnson’s daughter is “extremely sick”, which is why he was checking his phone.
Joel Embiid says that Amir Johnson had his phone on the bench because he was checking on his daughter. “She’s extremely sick,” Embiid said.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 13, 2019
