Immediately following the Philadelphia 76ers’ loss to the Miami Heat on Monday night, the team held a private meeting in the locker room where a call to have a sense of urgency took place. In this meeting, All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey challenged and called out former league MVP Joel Embiid about being “late for everything” and how it has impacted the team’s locker room atmosphere, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
It took over an hour for head coach Nick Nurse or anyone from the team to address the media, which led to speculation that a serious team meeting was taking place.
While this may seem unorthodox for a fifth-year player who just earned All-Star honors for the first time last season to put one of the best players in the league on blast in front of the entire team, Maxey and Embiid have held tremendous respect for one another through the years. These two have a history of holding one another accountable, which is why Maxey’s comments following Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat were needed.
In addition to Maxey’s comments to Embiid, the 76ers players made it clear to Nurse that they want to be coached harder given their lackluster 2-11 start to the season. As a result, the Sixers coaches and Nurse responded by saying that more effort and purpose need to go into their preparation for games.
Although Embiid was listed as doubtful to play on Monday against the Heat due to an undisclosed illness, he did participate in warmups ahead of the game before being ruled active. However, he was not present at their morning shootaround, and the team did not really see him much prior to tip-off.
With Maxey imploiring a sense of urgency and accountability into the Sixers’ star, Embiid listened and accepted ownership of his mistakes in front of the entire team, according to Charania. At the same time, Embiid did make it clear that he is “confused” about what exactly the team is attempting to execute at times on the court.
Despite Maxey missing the team’s last six games with a minor hamstring injury, he has remained a voice of reason in the 76ers’ locker room. With older, experienced talents like Embiid, Paul George, Kyle Lowry, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon, Maxey has stood out as a young leader in Philadelphia that has not been afraid to speak up during the team’s rough patch.
Initially thought to return during the week of Thanksgiving from his hamstring injury, there is now a sense of optimism that Maxey could return to the 76ers’ lineup as soon as Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies in the aftermath of what transpired in the team’s locker room discussion.
The good news for the 76ers is that even though they find themselves 2-11 through the first 13 games of the new season, Philadelphia is only four games behind the Heat for sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings. One solid win streak could easily put this team back in the playoff picture, which is why there is still belief that this organization can turn things around.
After all, Embiid, Maxey, and George have yet to all take the court together as a result of all three stars dealing with injuries to begin the year. After laying everything out in their team meeting and finally inching closer towards being at full strength, the 76ers appear to be heading in a new direction this season.
Be the first to comment