Joel Embiid was called for a flagrant foul when he elbowed Jarrett Allen in the face on Monday night, but the Philadelphia 76ers star still has some wiggle room before he is looking at a potential suspension.
Officials ruled that Embiid’s elbow to Allen’s jaw was a flagrant 1, and the NBA reviewed the play to see if it should be retroactively upgraded to a flagrant 2. According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, it will remain as originally called.
Joel Embiid’s flagrant one foul last night will not be retroactively upgraded to a flagrant two, league sources tell ESPN. He will remain at one flagrant foul point. Once a player reaches four, they are automatically suspended one game, as Draymond Green memorably was in 2016.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 16, 2019
As Bontemps noted, the NBA’s flagrant point system allows a player a combined four points before being suspended. A flagrant 1 is worth one point, while a flagrant 2 is worth two. Had Embiid been called for a flagrant 2, he would be just one flagrant 2 foul or two flagrant 1’s away from being suspended for a playoff game, which is what happened with Draymond Green during the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Finals loss in 2016. The suspension had a huge impact on the series.
While Embiid’s elbow was ruthless and looked extremely painful, league officials likely felt that intent would be too difficult to prove. Embiid will have to be careful going forward since it’s so early in the postseason.
