Tyrese Maxey’s willingness to hold Joel Embiid accountable could be the shot in the arm that the sputtering Sixers need.
After the Sixers choked away a 19-point first-half lead against the Miami Heat on Monday night to fall to 2-11 on the season, head coach Nick Nurse waited more than an hour before beginning his postgame press conference. On Tuesday, it became clear why that was.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Sixers held a team meeting in which “players and coaches held each other accountable and took fault in the start to the season.” During said meeting, Tyrese Maxey reportedly challenged Joel Embiid “to be on time to team activities” and called him out “about being late ‘for everything’ and how it impacts the locker room, from other players to the coaching staff,” Charania added.
Sam Amick, David Aldridge and Jared Weiss of The Athletic shared more:
According to the team and league sources, Maxey highlighted the need for Embiid to set a better example as a leader daily while emphasizing the importance of timeliness.
The message was that everything within their program starts with the big man and that he must be better when it comes to his leadership. League and team sources said Embiid heard the message while also expressing a lack of clarity and occasional frustration about how he is being used on the court.
Both Charania and The Athletic reported that Embiid was receptive to the message specifically because it came from Maxey. Team sources told Charania that Maxey and Embiid “have a close friendship and a history of holding each other accountable.”
Perhaps this team meeting winds up being the catalyst that turns the season around. Maxey is expected to return either Wednesday or Friday, so we (hopefully) aren’t far off from seeing the Sixers’ new Big 3 together for the first time, too. Regardless, Maxey’s willingness to challenge Embiid in that setting is a promising long-term development for the Sixers.
Embiid has been the face of the Sixers’ franchise for nearly a decade now. The team has gone only as far as he’s dragged them for years. How many 24-year-olds would feel empowered enough to challenge someone of that stature?
Frankly, Maxey’s message to the big fella might have been long overdue.
Maxey might legitimately be the first person in the Sixers org to ever seriously confront Embiid about this stuff, none of which is new. It started when he first came into the NBA (the section from the book excerpt below takes place in 2015) and even in recent years, there have… https://t.co/8O2zmcYSLV pic.twitter.com/tUCNOAWhH6
— Yaron Weitzman (@YaronWeitzman) November 19, 2024
As much as Embiid has been the Sixers’ alpha and omega in recent years, he’s had a few unfortunate habits as well. He often prioritized individual accolades to his own detriment, such as when he repeatedly played through injuries last year to maintain his 30-10 streak. He entered this season saying that he was finally prioritizing his health above all else—a long-overdue change!—but the fact it took this long to reach that point is somewhat damning.
When you’re averaging more than a point per minute or winning MVPs, the organization might be willing to live with that, as Weitzman said. But when you look like a shell of yourself amidst a 2-11 start to the season—particularly after earning a three-game suspension for a postgame confrontation with a local columnist—you get less leeway.
Maxey, who has been sidelined since Nov. 7 because of a hamstring injury, appears to be taking this slow start to the season personally.
“We’re better than what we’ve shown, and that’s what we’re going to go out there and display,” he said Tuesday, per Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
While Maxey didn’t confirm the reports about his confrontation with Embiid, he did share some details about the team meeting.
“Yesterday we talked about getting hit in the mouth,” Maxey said, per Mizell. “We hit them in the mouth. They hit us. It’s supposed to be a fight after that. We kind of laid down. We’re going to try to be a team that’s not going to do that anymore.”
As hard as it might be to imagine, there will come a day where Embiid is no longer on the Sixers. Much like LeBron James has been preparing to pass the torch to Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers, Embiid will have to do so with Maxey one day. Based on the reports about Monday’s team meeting, the Kentucky product already appears to be embracing more of a leadership role.
That should resonate specifically with rookie guard Jared McCain, who’s been arguably the Sixers’ biggest bright spot amidst an otherwise horrific start to the season. Maxey has already taken McCain under his wing to help him acclimate to the NBA. Seeing him challenge the franchise centerpiece to hold him accountable sets a promising standard for the entire team moving forward.
The Sixers might be cooked regardless unless Embiid regains confidence in his surgically repaired knee. Either way, they’re in good hands long-term with Maxey. Monday’s team meeting only confirmed as much.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.