The 76ers are off to a worse start than anyone in the organization could have imagined, but there are no internal discussions at this point regarding the job status of coach Nick Nurse or president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, multiple league sources told The Athletic . The Sixers have lost 11 of 13 games to open the season, including a 106-89 defeat in Miami on Monday night that prompted a closed-door team meeting afterwards in which one injured star, Tyrese Maxey , called out the face of the franchise, Joel Embiid , for setting a bad example for teammates, those sources said. Advertisement Maxey, who has been out since Nov.
7 with a hamstring injury , apparently said to Embiid in front of the team: “Joel, you know I love you. But it starts with you, and your habits.” Maxey, who has a close relationship with Embiid, called out his friend for being late to too many team functions.
ESPN was first to report that Maxey addressed Embiid’s habits during the team meeting. The story of Philadelphia’s disastrous season can’t be told through a single team meeting or even an injury to one of its three starters. Neither Embiid nor Paul George , whom the Sixers signed as a free agent last summer to a four-year, $212 million contract, was on the floor for the start of this campaign because of injury.
The Sixers were fined for their explanation of Embiid’s absence, and Embiid was suspended three games on Nov. 5 for shoving a Philadelphia columnist who had written artic.