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Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was less than thrilled that some of the team’s internal business made its way out to the public.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday the Sixers had a team meeting after their 106-89 defeat to the Miami Heat. During the discussion, guard Tyrese Maxey “challenged Embiid to be on time to team activities, calling out the 2022-23 league MVP about being late ‘for everything’ and how it impacts the locker room.”
Embiid was blunt when asked Wednesday night about the meeting.
“Whoever leaked that is a real piece of s–t,” he told reporters after Philly fell 117-111 to the Memphis Grizzlies. “But even then, we talked about a lot of things. I don’t want to get into the details, but that whole thing probably took 30 seconds.”
The Athletic’s Tony Jones offered more:
Embiid’s frustration is understandable to an extent. You’d always hope you can keep something like the details of a closed-door meeting from getting outside of the room.
However, publicizing Maxey’s direct critique of the seven-time All-Star also feels like somebody within the Sixers was making sure the message gets through. If punctuality continues to be an issue with star of Embiid’s pedigree, then desperate measures are required.
Based on Wednesday night’s game, the story has lit a fire under the 2022-23 MVP. He had 35 points, 11 rebounds and one block against Memphis, by far his best showing so far this year. He hadn’t scored more than 20 points in any of his previous three outings.
The fact the Sixers lost signaled the general drama surrounding the organization may not be slowing down anytime soon, though.
Philadelphia is now 2-12 and stands alone at the bottom of the NBA standings. Paul George could be headed for another spell on the sidelines as well after injuring his left knee against the Grizzlies.
Despite their dreadful start, a sense of optimism about the 76ers remained. They have too much talent to stay this bad, and they’re still only four games out of the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
But maybe things won’t get that much better in Philly.
Should the team’s season continue to spiral, the revelations about organizational discord might only be starting.
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