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Joel Embiid visits Meek Mill in prison to offer support

blake schuster
Yahoo Sports Contributor
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid visited rapper Meek Mill in prison, continuing a strong show of support for the Philly native. (AP Photo)
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid visited rapper Meek Mill in prison, continuing a strong show of support for the Philly native. (AP Photo)

Joel Embiid had to deliver a simple message to rapper Meek Mill and he wanted to do it face-to-face.

So the seven-footer recently made the trek to see the incarcerated rapper in a Pennsylvania prison and told the 30-year-old Philadelphia native what he and his Sixers teammates have often said publicly :

“We’re behind you.”

Mill — who’s real name Robert Williams — has received an outpouring of support from fans and celebrities after being sentenced for up to four years for violating his probation.

The case itself has been anything but straightforward, with Mill’s team claiming the judge asked the rapper to switch record labels and record a Boyz II Men cover. It’s not the first time someone from the city’s NBA team has involved himself in the trial, either. Before the sentencing, Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin sent a letter to the judge arguing on Mill’s behalf.

Outside of Philadelphia, stars like Colin Kaepernick, T.I. and Rick Ross have been staunch supporters of the rapper while Jay-Z has been one of the loudest voices arguing to free Meek Mill:

The sentence handed down by the Judge — against the recommendation of the Assistant District Attorney and Probation…

Posted by JAY-Z on Monday, November 6, 2017

Roughly 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, an increase of 1.9 million since 1972. America professes to be the land of the free, yet it has the world’s largest prison population – with one-quarter of the globes prisoners, and just 5% of the total population. Disproportionately America’s prisons are filled with Black bodies. This criminal (in)justice system, ripe with racial discrimination, stigmatizes, profiles, and targets young Black men for arrest at a young age, having its roots in their hyper-policed neighborhoods that they are raised in, and sadly extending into what should be a safe space—the classroom, via the school to prison pipeline. Meek Mill is a victim of this systemic oppression. Yes, there needs to be action surrounding sentencing reform, but there needs to also be action taken around abolishing the racialized norms of injustice that can lead to Meek Mill serving 2-4 years in prison for non-violent parole violations, and Brock Turner only serving 3 months in prison for three felony counts of sexual assault. : @karlfergusonjr

A post shared by colin kaepernick (@kaepernick7) on Nov 13, 2017 at 1:53pm PST

Embiid and teammate Ben Simmons were also photographed at Jay-Z’s Philadelphia concert holding “I Stand With Meek Mill” shirts.

“He’s a good friend of mine so I just wanted to support him,” Embiid told NBC Sports Philadelphia about his visit the prison. “There’s a little bit of injustice.”

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!