MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Joel Embiid wasn’t visibly angry. His voice didn’t drip with disappointment, or some over-the-top emotion.
His tone was very matter-of-fact when addressing the media following the Philadelphia 76ers’ 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night. In his first public comments since Monday night’s team meeting, in which guard Tyrese Maxey spoke to Embiid about being tardy to team functions, and Tuesday’s reports of that meeting. Embiid made it clear that he heard the criticism from his teammate, who is also a good friend. He made it clear that he is accountable for those actions and plans to improve going forward. He also made it clear that he didn’t like the details of the meeting spilling into public.
“Whoever leaked that is a real piece of s—,” Embiid said.
“We talked about a lot of things. I don’t want to get into detail. But that whole thing, that part of it, took probably 40 seconds. But it’s Joel Embiid, so things will always get blown out of proportion. It’s whatever, though. I’ll take it. I’m the reason for everything, so I guess I’ll take the blame for everything.
“There was nothing malicious being said. I like when people are telling me when I’m not doing good and when I need to be better. That part of it (tardiness) probably happened once or twice when I wasn’t playing. So I need to be better. I need to be perfect. I need to be on point, which I’m going to do.”
The frustration for Embiid comes from a culmination of events piling up in a young season that’s threatening to go further off the rails. This includes everything from his murky injury status at the beginning of the year to his three-game suspension for an altercation with a reporter, which combined to keep him off the court for Philly’s first nine games. The 76ers (2-12) are 14 games into a season they thought would allow them to compete for a championship, and in Embiid’s eyes, most of the talk around the team includes anything but actual basketball.
Embiid said he thought the details of Monday’s team meeting were overblown. Not that they weren’t true. He doesn’t dispute that. But more that the conversation in the meeting was typical of teammates holding each other accountable. Embiid and Maxey have a close friendship, on and off the floor. And, indeed, following Wednesday night’s loss in Memphis, they spent a good chunk of time talking to each other in the locker room, while eating a pile of chicken wings. They have a level of friendship where they can criticize each other, if the need should arise.
What Embiid clearly didn’t like was that he had to answer for a conversation that he felt should have remained private. And the fact that it led to more questions that he needed to talk about didn’t sit well with him.
“It’s kind of annoying, having to deal with the same things over and over and over,” Embiid said. “All I am trying to do is focus on basketball and be the best I can be for my family, on and off the court. But for some reason, it just feels like negativity keeps following me, which I don’t understand why. It’s a shame, but it doesn’t change the fact that we still have to do better as a team.
“Right now, we don’t have a lot of margin for error.”
Of that, there is no doubt. Philadelphia’s season is teetering on the brink. The Sixers lost their fifth consecutive game on Wednesday night. They have the worst record in the NBA. They lost star wing Paul George to a hyperextended left knee, the same knee he injured during the preseason. They lost in the same way they had much of the season: turnovers, missed shots and missed assignments at inopportune times on both sides of the floor.
George will be evaluated further on Thursday, but the hope is that he escaped serious injury and that everything is structurally sound with the knee. But it’s just another in a long line of maladies for the Sixers this season. For Philadelphia, whatever could go wrong has seemingly gone wrong. Wednesday night was the first time this season Embiid, George and Maxey were on the floor at the same time, although Maxey’s minutes were substantially limited after he missed six games with a strained right hamstring. Potentially losing George, even if for a limited amount of time, looms as another potential roadblock. George walked out of the locker room Wednesday night with a moderate limp.
“It sucks,” Maxey said. “I know how it feels to be hurt and to not be able to be out there and help your team. So, I definitely feel badly for Paul.”
Embiid, for his part, played his best game of the season, scoring 35 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He made shots. He played at a good pace. He defended better than he had in his previous games. For the first time this season, he looked like Joel Embiid. The Sixers are looking for any sliver to hang on to. And once again, they have to go back to a drawing board in a season they need to figure out how to turn around.
“We can still compete for a championship,” Embiid said. “But this is going to take time. A lot of our issues are coming from us not being on the same page. We have a lot of talent, but we still have to go out and actually do it. We have a pretty good chance; it would be a pretty good story if we did win. It’s just hard. You get a player back and then you potentially lose one. But whatever my body allows me to do, I’m going to go out and do it.”
(Photo: Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)
