NBA punishes Joel Embiid for WWE-themed celebration during game

The NBA did not find Joel Embiid’s Shawn Michaels impression to be very amusing.

The league announced Tuesday that the Philadelphia 76ers reigning MVP Embiid has been fined $35,000 for a celebration that he did the middle of Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. They described it as an “obscene gesture” in their press release announcing the punishment.

The incident occurred in the third quarter of the 76ers’ 126-98 victory over the Blazers at home. Embiid scored an and-one basket in transition and celebrated by doing a series of emphatic crotch chops in the style of the famous D-Generation X wrestling stable (consisting of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, and others).

Take a look at Embiid’s celebration.

JOEL IS FIRED UP pic.twitter.com/dnfKmpPEl6

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 30, 2023

Embiid is a big-time WWE fan and once even trolled a superstar opponent with a D-Generation X-themed hype video. What’s more is that Embiid was already fined by the league for another crotch-chop celebration last season. The seven-footer is clearly sticking to his guns though and will now have to pay a $35,000 fine instead of the $25,000 one that he got last time.