After another brutal loss in Memphis, Joel Embiid had choice words for the person that leaked details of a team meeting Monday night in Miami.
It’s hard to figure out if the Sixers are a bigger mess on or off the court.
On the court they moved to 2-12, the worst mark in the NBA, after losing their fifth straight game to a Memphis Grizzlies team missing six players — including star guard Ja Morant — and playing the second game of a back-to-back. They also saw Paul George hyperextend his left knee (again), their new Big 3 playing roughly six minutes together.
Off the court, the team has been embroiled in controversy over Joel Embiid and the situation revolving around his surgically-repaired left knee. Embiid also got into a physical altercation with The Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes after the columnist mentioned the star’s son and late brother, both named Arthur. After a disastrous loss to the Miami Heat Monday, the team held a meeting in the locker room. The following day details emerged of what was said, the biggest being Tyrese Maxey calling out Embiid for his tardiness.
Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
As you can imagine, Embiid was not pleased with those details getting out. Here’s what he had to say postgame in Memphis, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Joel Embiid sounded off after details from the 76ers’ lengthy team meeting Monday night — including that teammate Tyrese Maxey called out the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player for tardiness — surfaced through multiple reports citing anonymous sources, saying “whoever leaked that is a real piece of [expletive].”
“We talked about a lot of things [during the meeting],” Embiid said following the Sixers’ 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday. “I don’t want to get into the details, but that whole thing [with Maxey] probably took 30 seconds. But then again, it’s Joel Embiid, so we’ve got to make everything blown out of proportion.
“It’s whatever. I’ll take it all. I’m the reason for everything, so I’ll take the blame for everything.”
(The Inquirer has slightly different standards than us, so we can tell you he called the person that leaked the details of the meeting “a real piece of shit.”)
Embiid isn’t wrong there. The player or coach that leaked those details took a situation that was paper mache delicate and took a sledgehammer to it. The meeting itself felt appropriate. The team is free falling and something needed to be done. It also felt appropriate for Maxey to call out Embiid in that spot.
But leaking all of that information won’t help anything. Sure, Embiid did look more engaged and himself in Memphis, but was the one-game motivational impact worth the long-term damage this could cause? You have a team where more than half the roster is new and the players are attempting to build trust with one another and the coaching staff. How can that happen when something basic like locker room sanctity gets ruined?
The thing that isn’t great is that Embiid seemed deflective and defensive postgame. Credit where it’s due that he was called out in a meeting and then came out with a new focus the next game and was the best player on the floor.
But those quotes don’t make it seem like he’s truly owning it. In his defense, he’s dealt with a lot. The start to this season has to be taking a mental toll on him for so many reasons, but it’s true that he’s “the reason for everything, so” he needs to “take the blame for everything.” Fair or not, every star athlete has to deal with this, especially in a place like Philly.
Daryl Morey locked in his favorite co-star in Maxey. He got him the player he recruited on national TV in George. There was plenty of optimism in the city for the team’s new Big 3 and surrounding roster pieces. The only thing left for Embiid to do was go be a superstar and lead by example whenever he got healthy.
The health aspect is only so much in Embiid’s control. The attitudinal part of things is different. Embiid told reporters that the team needs to be “perfect” because they’ve lost their margin for error.
But it all begins and ends with Embiid — same as it ever was.
“It’s kind of annoying having to deal with the same things over and over and over,” Embiid said Wednesday. “It’s been like that my whole career. All I try to do is focus on basketball, and trying to make the best living for my family, on and off the court.
“But it’s unbelievable. It just feels like negativity keeps following us, which I don’t understand why. But it is a shame, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve still all got to be better.”
Winning is the best deodorant, but right now almost everything about the Sixers stinks.