A 76ers player was seen texting on the bench while his team trailed by double-digits in Game 1 of the playoffs

ESPN/NBA

Philadelphia 76ers reserve forward Amir Johnson was seen texting from the bench during the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ Game 1 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Moments later, cameras showed Johnson leaving the bench and running back to the locker room.
Johnson was criticized for the move, though it’s unclear why he was texting or why he left.

ESPN cameras caught Philadelphia 76ers reserve forward Amir Johnson texting on the bench during their Game 1 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

The incident happened during a timeout in the fourth quarter with the 76ers trailing the sixth-seeded Nets by double-digits. When ESPN returned from break, analyst Doris Burke criticized Johnson and Joel Embiid, who was sitting next to Johnson, for having the phone on the bench.

"This is really troublesome to me," Burke said, wondering why the phone was there in the first place.

Moments later, cameras caught Johnson running back to the locker room. It’s unclear why he left the bench, or what he was texting about in the first place.

Twitter, of course, had plenty of jokes to make.

The Sixers lost the game, 111-102, in an upset.

The Sixers, with Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, and Tobias Harris are considered a team that could make the NBA Finals, but all season, have lacked chemistry, in part because of injuries and mid-season trades. Their Game 1 loss was troubling because of how flat they came out.

The Nets lead the series 1-0, but the cause of Johnson’s text message may become the central story of this series.

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