NBA punishes Joel Embiid for making obscene gesture at Celtics fans days after he screamed at female referee

The NBA has fined Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid $75,000 for making obscene gestures toward the Boston Celtics' crowd during their game on Christmas Day.

NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars announced the discipline on Friday night.

It's claimed Embiid performed a ‘f*** you' gesture to the crowd using both his arms.

The incident occurred just days after Embiid angrily confronted female referee Jenna Schroeder when he was ejected against the San Antonio Spurs for two technical fouls.

Embiid seemed on the brink of squaring up to Schroeder, but it wasn't clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. Certain angles seemed to show his chin making contact with her hands and she was signaling her decision.

An enraged Embiid then charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, coach Nick Nurse and several assistants in astonishing scenes.

NBA broadcaster Stephanie Ready slammed Embiid's conduct as she spoke over the replay on television, saying: 'It's a foul (on Wembanyama), every which way. You can see he is up disputing it, she is trying to discuss it calmly and he goes off.

'Technical foul, and now look. He approaches and steps to her as if he wants to have a physical confrontation, which I have a problem with. He has to be restrained. He is now out of the game. 

'I have a lot to say, as a woman... what in the world was he thinking?'

Analyst Alaa Abdelnaby questioned where Embiid made contact with Schroeder but said the Philadelphia star had no excuse for seeing red.

'Joel's got to be better than that. Right? Because that's just too easy for the officials,' Abdelnaby said over a replay. 'He's crowding her.'

As the initial scenes unfolded live, Abdelnaby was shocked by what he was watching.

'This is unbelievable,' he said, as Embiid blew up. 'This is unbelievable. This is Mickey Mouse. This isn't real. This is a joke... This is a joke.'

Skip Bayless also took to X after seeing the incident and said: 'Embiid just lost his cool (and momentarily his mind) and got ejected in Philly. Surely it wasn’t because Wemby already had 7 blocks..'

It's been a frustrating campaign for Embiid, who has played in just nine of Philadelphia's 28 games. 

He's missed time with injuries to his knee and face, and he was suspended for three games early 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 past 11 games.