{"id":203,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/203","headline":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James disputes Embiid story","dek":"James pushed back on social media after Breen shared an on-air anecdote about him scolding Joel Embiid for arriving late to practice.","body":"ESPN's Mike Breen apologized Wednesday after LeBron James refuted a story Breen told on the air during a preseason game between the Knicks and 76ers.\n\nCalling the 76ers' 120-97 win over the Knicks on Monday, Breen shared an anecdote during the fourth quarter: \"Somebody told me before the game that they were out ready to practice and Joel Embiid walked out on the court a couple of minutes late, and LeBron let him hear it.\" The comment spread quickly given the two superstars involved.\n\nJames responded after the game in a post to his Instagram account, writing \"He ain't been late so stop the lies.\"\n\nBreen addressed the fallout Wednesday, telling ESPN, \"I'm so disappointed how the story was interpreted. The whole intent was praising LeBron for already having an impact on the team's professionalism and accountability, even something so benign as a player getting on the court for practice a minute or two late.\"\n\nThe episode marks an early bit of drama in James's first season with Philadelphia, even before the regular season has tipped off.","published_at":"2026-10-08T19:17:55.251375+00:00","source_count":5,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"ESPN announcer Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James refutes on-air story about him and Joel Embiid","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/espn-announcer-mike-breen-apologizes-after-lebron-james-refutes-on-air-story-about-him-and-joel-embiid-205418751.html"},{"outlet":"Awful Announcing","publisher":"Awful Announcing","title":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James refutes Joel Embiid story","url":"https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-refutes-joel-embiid-story.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Breen apologizes after LeBron refutes story he called out Embiid","url":"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50127138/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-refutes-embiid-story"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Knicks voice Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James calls out Joel Embiid story","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/07/sports/mike-breen-apologizes-after-lebron-james-calls-out-joel-embiid-story/"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James refutes story alleging he called out Joel Embiid at practice","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-joel-embiid-76ers-knicks/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James refutes Joel Embiid story","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-214159729.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James exposes disputed 76ers practice story","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-001211567.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James refutes Joel Embiid story","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mike-breen-apologizes-lebron-james-003049339.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Knicks voice Mike Breen apologizes after LeBron James calls out Joel Embiid story","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-voice-mike-breen-apologizes-212321458.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Legendary NBA broadcaster Mike Breen issues apology to LeBron James after being called out","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/legendary-nba-broadcaster-mike-breen-083830397.html"}],"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}