New Orleans Pelicans rookie Jose Alvarado on Tuesday received his first career technical foul after getting involved in a verbal altercation with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.
The incident began to unfold in the second quarter. Embiid had his shot blocked by Willy Hernangomez and was then issued a personal foul for contact on Garrett Temple. He appeared to accidentally run into Temple after the block, which prompted words from Alvarado.
Alvarado and Embiid were then each hit with technical fouls.
Players that receive technical fouls are also fined $2,000 each for their first five infractions so Alvarado will be docked on his next check. However, Embiid, who is on a max contract, offered to pay the fine for Alvarado, who is signed to a two-way contract.
“I said, ‘Man, you know I can’t afford that tech!'” Alvarado said of the incident. “He is pretty cool. He did a generous thing and actually went out of his way and got in contact with me and paid the fine for me. We talked during the game and it was all love and respect. It was in the heat of the moment, nothing personal.”
The two players were later involved in a jump-ball situation after they both chased after a loose ball. Despite that, they managed to finish out the rest of the 76ers’ 117-107 victory without further incident after their light exchange of words.
Embiid recorded 42 points and 14 rebounds while Alvarado had 11 points.
The situation between Alvarado and Embiid goes to show that what happens in between the lines stays there. As Alvarado eluded to, they were able to show each other some love after the game and Embiid extended that gesture even further by picking up Alvarado’s fine.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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