Tyrese Maxey Is Finally Taking Over The Sixers, Calls Out Joel Embiid In Team Meeting Last Night
David Dow. Getty Images.The Philadelphia 76ers are the biggest group of losers in sports right now. They are 11-2 to start off the season, and have lost all of the whopping 3 games that Joel Embiid has played so far this year.
Two. And. Eleven.
This is a team that is supposedly serious about contending for a championship. A team that went out and acquired Paul George over the offseason to keep the championship window alive. And this team has won 2 games so far this year. They are despicable, and it starts at the top of the lineup.
It doesn't matter that he's a former MVP. It doesn't matter that he just won a gold medal at the Olympics. Joel Embiid is a major problem. If there's one guy on this team who you can always rely on to give the game and this city everything he has, however, it's Tyrese Maxey. He's the perfect embodiment for what Philly fans want out of an athlete. A guy who is constantly going to give you effort, a guy who is constantly going to look like he cares out there, and a guy who is going to deliver. Tyrese Maxey should be the face of the Sixers organization right now, and apparently last night he took a big step in taking control of this team.
ESPN -- Amid a 2-11 start that has them in last place in the Eastern Conference, and with their star trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey yet to play a game together, the Philadelphia 76ers held a team meeting following Monday night's 106-89 loss to the Miami Heat.
...In the meeting, Maxey challenged Embiid to be on time to team activities, calling out the former league MVP about being late "for everything" and how it impacts the locker room, from other players to the coaching staff, sources briefed on the meeting told ESPN.
Maxey and Embiid have a close friendship and have a history of holding each other accountable, according to those around the team. "Tyrese loves Big Fella', but this is the elephant in the room," a person involved in the meeting told ESPN.
Tyrese Maxey might be the only person in the room who has the nuts to tell it like it is to Joel Embiid. Nick Nurse seems like he's too checked out already to stand up to him. Daryl Morey is too busy trying to call James Harden with an unblocked number. Jared McCain already had the tripod set up to do some post game TikToks. If it weren't for Tyrese Maxey, then Joel Embiid would get away with whatever he wants.
But that's not going to fly on Tyrese's team. You want to sit out half the games this season to keep your body rested and healthy for the playoffs? Fine. It is what it is. But you're not going to just skip 25% of the games because you don't feel like playing AND show up late to everything. This just goes to prove what we've all been worried about for a while now--Joel Embiid isn't serious about winning. He doesn't have the mindset and drive of a champion. He was brought into the Sixers organization when there was a purposeful culture of losing here in Philadelphia, and he just hasn't been able to shake that. But he doesn't realize how his loser mentality makes everyone else in the locker room feel like they can either A) have the same attitude or B) frustrated beyond belief that the team's best player doesn't care enough to show up on time. It's not asking a lot. It's literally just showing up when you're supposed to show up.
Hopefully this team meeting was early enough in the season to turn things around and inject a little life into the Sixers. If not? Well...I guess it's back to irrelevancy and obscurity for the Sixers.