Sixers’ Joel Embiid didn’t hold back when asked about details of the leaked team meeting

It’s hard to tell if the Sixers are a bigger mess on or off the court.

On the court, they fell to 2-12, the worst mark in the NBA, after losing their fifth straight game to a Memphis Grizzlies team that was missing six players – including star guard Ja Morant – and played the second game in a back- two-back. . They also saw Paul George hyperextend his left knee (again), their new Big 3 playing about six minutes together.

Off the court, the team has been embroiled in controversy over Joel Embiid and the situation surrounding 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 on 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 lateness.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

As you can imagine, Embiid was not happy with these details coming out. Here’s what he had to say after the game in Memphis, by Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Joel Embiid sounded off on details from the 76ers’ lengthy team meeting Monday night — including teammate Tyrese Maxey calling the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player late — surfaced through multiple reports citing anonymous sources, saying “whoever leaked it is a real piece (expletive).”

“We talked about a lot of things (during the meeting),” Embiid said after the Sixers’ 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday. “I don’t want to get into the details, but the whole thing (with Maxey) probably took 30 seconds. But then again, it’s Joel Embiid, so we have to blow everything out of proportion.

“It’s whatever. I take it all. I’m the cause of everything, so I take the blame for everything.”

(The questioner has slightly different standards than we do, so we can tell you that he called the person who leaked the details of the meeting “a real piece of shit.”)

Embiid isn’t wrong there. The player or coach who leaked these details took a paper-mache delicate situation and took a sledgehammer to it. The meeting itself felt appropriate. The team is in free fall and something had to be done. It also felt appropriate for Maxey to call out Embiid in that spot.

But it does no good to leak all that information. Sure, Embiid looked more engaged and himself in Memphis, but was the motivational effect in one game worth the long-term damage this could cause? You have a team where more than half the roster is new and the players are trying to build trust in each other and the coaching staff. How can this happen when something as basic as the sanctity of the locker room is destroyed?

What’s not great is that Embiid seemed dismissive and defensive after the game. Credit where it’s due to him being called out in one meeting and then coming out with a new focus the next game and being the best player on the floor.

But these quotes don’t make it seem like he really owns it. In his defense, he has been treated a lot. The start of this season is going to take a mental toll on him for so many reasons, but it’s true that he’s “the reason for everything, so” he has to “take the blame for everything.” Fair or not, any 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 television in George. There was plenty of optimism around town for the team’s new Big 3 and surrounding positions. All that was left for Embiid to do was become a superstar and lead by example once 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 has to be “perfect” because they have lost their margin for error.

But it all begins and ends with Embiid — the same as it ever has been.

“It’s kind of annoying to have to deal with the same things over and over and over again,” Embiid said Wednesday. “It has been like this my entire career. All I try to do is focus on basketball and try to make the best life for my family, on and off the court.

“But it’s unbelievable. It just feels like the negativity keeps following us, which I don’t understand why. But it’s a shame, but it doesn’t change the fact that we all still have to be better.”

Winning is the best deodorant, but right now almost everything about the Sixers stinks.