Younger brother of 76ers' Embiid passes away

Basketball took a backseat Thursday for the Philadelphia 76ers and their rookie center Joel Embiid, who learned that his younger brother, Arthur Embiid, had passed away.

No information regarding cause of death has yet been made available. A report from the Associated Press put his place of death in Africa, but didn't get any more specific than that.

According to Tom Moore of The Intelligencer, 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie, coach Brett Brown and teammate Luc Mbah a Moute - a fellow Cameroon native who has been a mentor to Embiid since the 7-footer was picked third overall in this June's NBA draft - missed Thursday night’s preseason game against the Boston Celtics to be with Embiid in Philadelphia.

"We’re all a family here," said 76ers assistant Chad Iske, who coached the team in Brown’s absence. "Obviously, everybody’s thinking about Joel at this time. You feel for him so much."

"It’s very sad," said forward Hollis Thompson. "It just puts everything in perspective. At the end of the day, we’re playing a game. This is real life out here."

Embiid is expected to miss most or all of this season after suffering a stress fracture and having surgery on his right foot this summer, just before the draft.