PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was ejected in the first half of Monday night's game against San Antonio after drawing two technical fouls. Referee Jenna Schroeder ejected Embiid with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the second quarter. The seven-time All-Star received the first technical for arguing with Schroeder, and received another technical -- and ejection -- from Schroeder before any more game time elapsed. Embiid was close to Schroeder, but it wasn't clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. An enraged Embiid charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, head coach Nick Nurse and several assistants.
WNBA
The WNBA now has all of its head coaching spots filled after there were eight open positions this offseason. Dallas named Chris Koclanes as its head coach on Monday and then an hour later Washington hired Sydney Johnson as its new head rounding out the seven hirings. in 2025, seven women and six men will be in charge on the sidelines. There's no common thread among the new hires. Three of the hires are former college head coaches (Karl Smesko, Lynne Roberts and Johnson), two are WNBA assistants (Koclanes and Tyler Marsh) and one is an international coach (Rachid Meziane). Stephanie White is the only former WNBA head coach to get one of the open positions as she moved from Connecticut to Indiana.
Female athlete of the year
Caitlin Clark has been named the AP Female Athlete of the Year after raising the profile of women's basketball to unprecedented levels in both college and the WNBA. She led Iowa to the national championship game, was the top pick in the WNBA draft and captured rookie of the year honors in the league. Fans packed sold-out arenas and millions of television viewers followed her journey on and off the court. Clark's exploits also put other women's sports leagues in the spotlight. A group of 74 sports journalists from AP and its members voted on the award. Other athletes who received votes included Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and boxer Imane Khelif. Clark's only the fourth women's basketball player to win the award since it was first given in 1931.