NBA star Joel Embiid fined £20,000 for copying Triple H’s WWE celebration
NBA star Joel Embiid was slapped with a £20,000 fine for emulating WWE icon Triple H with an on-court celebration.
Embiid’s impersonation of one of his favourite WWE wrestlers proved costly as his Philadelphia 76ers side edged past Brooklyn Nets 137-133 at Wells Fargo Centre on Wednesday night.
The Cameroonian giant landed a tough basket in the third quarter of the close affair and celebrated with a gesture that landed him in hot water.
NBA officials concluded the famous move was an ‘obscene gesture’ and decided to hit Embiid in the pocket with a fine.
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The 28-year-old turned to the crowd to replicate Triple H, who he already shares a close relationship with, after the veteran wrestler walked out alongside him before a 76ers game in 2021.
And Embiid explained after the gesture that his exploits to make the basket were ‘deserving of a good celebration’.
“There’s no secret that Triple H is my guy and obviously when I used to watch wrestling, those were my guys,” he said.
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“I haven’t done it in a while. I just felt like it was a good and-one. I got the ball, got fouled and I threw the ball.
“I didn’t even see the rim. I felt like it was deserving of a good celebration and that’s why I went to it.”
Embiid had NBA fans in hysterics for performing a WWE superstar move at such a critical juncture in the ball game.
But injured Nets hero Kevin Durant slammed Embiid on Twitter by calling It a ‘trash celebration’.
It did not take Embiid long to respond as he poked fun at Durant with an epic response, posting a video of him and Triple H doing the celebration on various occasions.
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