At the time, Embiid was out injured and it was among the franchise’s chief stress points. Weitzman reports in “Tanking to the Top,” that Sixers head coach Brett Brown shouted at the team’s medical staff: “we’re all going to get fired because Joel’s out of shape.”
More on Philadelphia 76ers Turmoil?
Embiid is well-aware of these comments. And recently, he mocked them and shrugged it off as he shot down the speculation regarding his on and off-court relationship with his fellow teammate, Ben Simmons, during an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "I was actually right," Embiid claimed. "A few years ago, I predicted it. I'm sure if you go into the archives and stuff, you can see I predicted the media, with my social media and Ben, [the media] were going to try and drive us apart. At the end of the day, we know what we gotta do. I love playing with [Ben Simmons]. He's a special talent. I think we can accomplish something special."
Joel Embiid has heard all of the chatter about the awkward fit between he and fellow Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons on the court, and whether the two of them are capable of winning at the highest levels playing together -- noises that have only grown louder as the Sixers entered the All-Star Break in fifth place in the NBA's Eastern Conference. He has a message for the doubters: just wait. "I think it's BS," Embiid said here Saturday morning before All-Star practice, "because when you look at the last couple years, the last two years that we've been playing together, it's not a problem. This year it's only been a problem because our offense has struggled.”
Joel Embiid: "It's definitely going to be better after the All-Star break. I mean, just look at the last two years, what we've been able to do. I think it can work, and it's going to work."
"It takes time," Simmons said. "Not everything is perfect. Not everything works right away. I love playing with Joel. I think he's an amazing talent, a guy I respect for his game, and I know he feels the same way about me. We continue to go the right way. There's so many different things that we haven't tried. We've got a lot of talent. It's scary how good we can be."
Tim Bontemps: There was a louder cheer for Furkan Korkmaz during introductions here in Philadelphia than there were for Joel Embiid. Not only that, but Embiid got plenty of boos. Things have gone in quite the direction here in Philly of late.
Bleacher Report: Jimmy's comment 👀🍿
Twitter User: It gets even worse for Sixers fans
The 76ers didn’t respond to the meeting with a win, as the Bucks continued to show how they’ve separated themselves from the rest of the league, let alone the East. Philadelphia thought it would be up there with the Bucks, and perhaps would be — if it played every game at home. The 76ers haven’t defeated a team with a winning record on the road since Dec. 12 in Boston. “It’s baffling to us all,” Brand said. “We have an uphill battle. As of now, we’re going to start the playoffs on the road and we haven’t been good on the road. We need to figure this out and we have to figure it out fast but we have the group that can do it.”
That’s what happened on Sunday when the fans began booing superstar Joel Embiid for what they judged as subpar effort. Embiid then gave a hand gesture to quiet the home crowd and he appeared to yell something not too flattering as well. Back at practice on Monday, coach Brett Brown gave his thoughts and reaction to the gesture. “I’ll speak with Jo to learn what actually happened, but I think in general, it goes like this,” he prepared to say. “This city is a uniquely, aggressive city. Look at how they handle their stars from Carson Wentz to (Bryce) Harper to Joel Embiid, they’re on coaches and some of it is we just got to play better and we just got to coach better.”
NBA Central: Embiid 👀 pic.twitter.com/FJrQUC0sda
The team did end up losing that game to the Bucks, but they showed some more toughness and an edge that they did not have in the Heat loss. They then came home and led by as many as 33 in an easy win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. “We sat down, we talked some stuff out, and I think it was good for us to get those things out there,” said Richardson after returning from a left hamstring strain.
OK so there is really only one way to read that, right? Problems in Sixerland. At least, that’s how Horford’s comments were perceived nationally. I asked him about it Thursday morning and he said, “No, not at all. Every year that I’ve been in the league, teams, internally, there’s always stuff that I guess goes on. What I was referring to was, I always like keeping that stuff in the group. People shouldn’t know the things that we are addressing or that we’re talking about. Sometimes the reality is people take things how they want to take them. Right now, everyone, all eyes are on us. We’re not performing to a level that we’re expected to, so people are just firing away.”
“I got to spend a lot of time at the 3-point line, just to make sure there’s some spacing,” Embiid said during Wednesday’s off day.“Everybody keeps saying, ‘Get in the post!’ You’ve got to find that balance. It’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
Serena Winters: Joel Embiid said #Sixers are still trying to find their offensive identity. Says offensive balance is all about sacrifice & ‘understanding what's going on around us & how we can help each other be better.’
“Nah, if you want to get someone the ball, we can find a way,” Embiid said. “Then again, coaches only can have so much control. They’re not on the court shooting the ball or passing, making plays. All they can do is call plays and we’ve just got to execute.”
“If you want to get me the ball, we can find a way,” Embiid added. “I don’t know why the ball didn’t…I had a pretty good start and I don’t know what happened then. I’ll have to go back and watch the tape.”
The frustration levels were clearly shown in the second half as they had their issues on both ends of the floor. Tobias Harris, who had a miserable night scoring just six points on 3-for-12 shooting and he missed all six of his attempts from deep, knows the frustration is there, but they need to stay positive. “I mean, obviously, we’re frustrated,” said Harris. “We have to stay positive and battle through. It’s just a part of the season. You have your highs and you have your lows. It’s really how you weather that storm and get through it. Obviously, we want to play better and be better. We have expectations for one another. We have to keep our head high and just be ready for the next one and go out and learn from this game and keep going.”
The Sixers, you may have heard, laid an egg on New Year's Eve. In the words of head coach Brett Brown, they "stunk," and did so badly enough to trigger a post-game rant from Josh Richardson on a lack of accountability in the locker room. Not the sort of thing you want to hear from a team allegedly fighting for a title. Thursday, the faces of Philadelphia had their chance to publicly weigh in on the accountability issue, having conducted a team meeting in the morning to talk things out in-house. For the time being, they're putting on their best appearances.
"It has been a rough last three games, but we're good. I don't really want to share what goes on inside, but we're good, I feel like everybody has a good spirit and we know we're going to get out of it," Joel Embiid told reporters Thursday. "I don't talk much, I lead by example, but if I feel the need to say something I will, and as a leader you kind of have to do that. That's what you got to do."
"Everybody has the freedom to do whatever they want, we're not entitled. I've been here the longest, Ben has been here, we're not entitled. The way I get better, I like people telling me what I don't do best, and I feel like every time if I do something wrong, these guys let me [know]. We're humble, we want to learn, we want to get better...there's no sense of people being afraid to speak up, everybody has the freedom, and that's the culture that we have. There's nothing going on."
And yet, even as the Sixers tried to circle the wagons and block out the outside noise, even as they said all the right things about each taking responsibility for where they are, the big fella couldn't seem to avoid barreling into the subject that has hung over this team for the last two-plus seasons: Ben Simmons' shooting.
He did not mention him by name, he did not point the finger at anyone individually, but it is not hard to figure out who and what he is referring to when he uses specific examples in response to broader questions: REPORTER: Starting lineup has struggled offensively. What have you seen in that regard? EMBIID: We just got to look at ourselves and see what we can do individually, we’ve got to help each other even if it means being outside of your comfort zone for the greater [good] to help the team win. Meaning that, if you’ve got to space and shoot it, you’ve got to do it. We need everybody to buy into that and we’ll be fine, we’re going to be fine. We’re still finding our groove, we haven’t been totally healthy, the whole starting lineup. Like I said, we’ll be fine.
Keith Pompey: #Sixers SG @J_Rich1 : "I don't think that there's enough accountability in our locker room right now, honestly. I think that we got some new guys, who don't want to step on toes, including myself. I feel like we kind of go play, and don't compete as much. And I think our locker room has some growing to do."
“Even with the story that was reported, that wasn’t a big deal,” Brand said, referring to an ESPN report in January that asserted Butler “aggressively challenged” Philadelphia Coach Brett Brown. “He didn’t curse. He wasn’t loud. It was his reputation following him.”
Jimmy Butler: As for the Sixers, the potential is through the roof. We’re still working out all the kinks of everything. Everybody trying to figure everybody out two months in and we still got a long way to go. The whole thing is just to win and figure out how we’re going to win come playoff time. That’s what you think about, but you got to get there first. So, we got to make sure that we continually win the day at hand.
But Brown seemed like he had a few things he still wanted to get off his chest about that report from ESPN, which said Butler confronted Brown in a way that was outside the norm between a player and coach. He addressed the report again. “When you go into a team film and you say, this is what I see, what do you see? I’m the instigator … ” Brown said. “This is why I like coaching. I like that communication, the relationship. Sometimes, there’s subtle, respectful confrontation. There is in my home. I got no problems with any of it. I think where the thing pivots to ‘Oh, this isn’t typical,’ I don’t agree with that. “It’s happened many times. This is just the first time it’s public.”
Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons called his team "too soft" for the second time this season after Friday night's 123-121 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Playing without star center Joel Embiid, who missed the game with a sore ankle, the Sixers allowed Atlanta to rack up 62 points in the paint while outrebounding Philadelphia 44-30. "Definitely," Simmons said when asked whether physicality was the Sixers' biggest problem. "I think we were too soft."
"I don't like the word 'soft,'" Butler said, and added a whistle. "I just don't think that we did what we were supposed to do. I'm not gonna say that anybody's soft. I just think that we got beat in every aspect of the game. They came out from the jump and did what they wanted to do, and they did that for 48 straight minutes."
Though league sources say that Jimmy Butler has developed a good relationship with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, his reported problems with the Sixers system are real. Results aren’t everything. Even without the benefits of building chemistry during the offseason and training camp, the Sixers are outscoring teams by 8.8 points per 100 possessions with at least two of the trio on the court. Still, the internal conflict is relevant.
It’s been three days since a report surfaced that Jimmy Butler “aggressively challenged" Brett Brown and that the dialogue between the two was “disrespectful” during a film session in Portland. Brown stated his case again Saturday that the report was “overrated” and normal dialogue between NBA player and NBA coach in 2019. Butler agreed. We’ve been talking damn near every day. Trying to figure everything out and how we can make everyone work. Not just for myself but for everybody. I’m telling you it’s a player and a coach conversation. I think that if you’ve followed me long enough, you know if I was being confrontational because I don’t think I could hide it very well.
A report published on Friday said that Butler recently challenged Brown in a disrespectful way and wants to be utilized differently in the coach's offensive scheme. Brown dismissed the report before Saturday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. "I didn't feel like any of that crossed the line," Brown said. "He's vocal. He's all in and he has opinions, but it's instigated by me. None of this should surprise anybody. He's got opinions. He wants to be heard. And he should be heard."
A report published on Friday said that Butler recently challenged Brown in a disrespectful way and wants to be utilized differently in the coach's offensive scheme. Brown dismissed the report before Saturday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. "I didn't feel like any of that crossed the line," Brown said. "He's vocal. He's all in and he has opinions, but it's instigated by me. None of this should surprise anybody. He's got opinions. He wants to be heard. And he should be heard."
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Jimmy Butler has aggressively challenged coach Brett Brown on his role in the offense, complicating an already tenuous chemistry among the team's Big 3 hierarchy, league sources told ESPN. Butler has been vocal in his contesting of Brown and his system, including a recent film session in Portland that some witnesses considered "disrespectful" and beyond normal player-coach discourse.
Brown has told people within the organization that he had no issues with that exchange and considered it within the confines of the relationship that he's developed with Butler, sources said. While a source close to Butler contends that his intense, direct style can come off as combative as he's trying to make clear his viewpoints, Butler's sluggish assimilation into the Sixers environment is causing some concern about his long-term viability and fit with the organization, league sources said. Nevertheless, the franchise's full focus and resources remain on making this new partnership work this season and beyond.
Brown, who signed a contract extension in the offseason, remains a popular figure with ownership and management. Around the organization, there's an urgency for Brown and his coaching staff to stabilize the situation, sources said. Ownership has been committed to making the Big 3 of Embiid, Simmons and Butler work, especially with Butler's free agency looming this summer.
Butler has expressed a desire to teammates that he hopes to play in more traditional pick-and-roll and isolation sets, rather than trying to find his place in the Sixers free-flowing offense, league sources said. In searching for answers, Butler has met privately with Brown and his coaching staff, as well as general manager Elton Brand, league sources told ESPN.
"I don't like shooting 3s," Embiid said. "I only do it because of the spacing that we have, and sometimes I have to take them. I have to be on the perimeter, just getting guys open, because of all the attention that sometimes it seems are presented to me.
"I don't like shooting 3s. I only do it because I got to make it work, but the last couple games, mainly the last two games, my mindset has been, if I'm on the perimeter, it doesn't mean that I have to shoot 3s. Even if I'm wide open, I think I had a couple of opportunities tonight and last game against the [New York] Knicks where I could've shot it, but I took one dribble and I took a midway shot.
"I mean, I wouldn't say I don't totally like [shooting them]," Embiid said. "I mean, it's cool and all that. But when you look at yourself and see how dominant you can be inside ... it doesn't matter. "I can score in so many ways. [But] it's also about just feeling comfortable. Right now, I'm not feeling comfortable being in that situation. I'm sure I'm gonna take some. I'm sure some games I'm going to take 10, some games I'm going to take 15 ... you'll see."
But some close to Fultz believe the problem is more than physical. In interviews, those who know Fultz — current and former teammates, NBA people and Washington-area supporters — describe a life burdened by a number of factors, from a restrictive inner circle to lost allies to outside criticism. Those who have peeked inside this world tell stories of those closest to Fultz going to extreme efforts to keep personal details confidential.
Williams has been more than a coach, knowing Fultz since he was 7 years old via a relationship with the family and treating him like a son or nephew. In the lead-up to the draft, Williams served as Fultz’s representation, connecting him with sponsorships from such brands as Nike, Tissot and JBL. But as things started to derail, Fultz’s mother, Ebony, and Brothers took control of the player’s off-court life. Williams said he backed off to avoid conflict, but he believes the forced separation might have affected Fultz.
Fultz is now a professional on a four-year contract worth $33 million, but close associates said Ebony still goes to great lengths to shield him. During Fultz’s first season in Philadelphia, Ebony had cameras installed inside his New Jersey home, according to several people familiar with the setup who described the indoor surveillance as unusual. The cameras have since been removed. Multiple people said Ebony has asked some who have dealt with Fultz to sign nondisclosure agreements for reasons that are unclear to them. “There’s definitely crazy [expletive] going on with the mom and how involved she is and how overprotective she is,” said a person with a close connection to Fultz. “The best possible situation is if the mom just backs off for a period of time and gives him a chance to breathe.”
“I don’t talk about it. That’s none of my business,” the center said. “I just know that he’s a great person. He comes in every day, does his job and tries to make the team better. He’s a great guy. Everybody around loves him. I love him personally, but that’s his business. I don’t want to get into the whole family thing.”
When Brett Brown surveyed the smoking wreckage of Sunday's loss in Brooklyn, he didn't take refuge in the just-one-of-those-nights explanation. There was something deeper that went wrong, something "unacceptable," according to the Sixers coach. "That is not who we are," Brown said, although the box score was actually an accurate reflection of the team's worst tendencies. He was right that it didn't portray the better angels of their nature, but he also knew it wasn't so out of character that it could be dismissed as a freak loss devoid of greater meaning.
"It's the reality of the ages of the people that we have," Brown told the media after the game, partially excusing, at least for public consumption, what happened in Barclays Center. What he said to the team privately was much harsher. "They hear me talk way deeper than what I get into with you guys. We spoke candidly," Brown said after practice Tuesday. "You weigh up your bullets throughout the course of the year and you use them. That was one of them. That game didn't sit well with me."
"We're not spiritually at a stage that's able to do that right now," Brown said. "We're figuring some stuff out." And the job of imparting that stuff is on him. "It is. I'm the head coach," Brown said. "In a very sadistic way, I like this as a coach; the pain, the reality of what is really going on. We're not jab-stepping anything. We'll own this. I'll own this."
He denied being connected to those four accounts. The problem with Colangelo’s denials, however, is that those tweets were aligned with some of the frustrations and beliefs inside the organization. According to several sources, that’s why several players believe Colangelo is linked to the tweets even if he did not directly post from the burner accounts. “I think the damage is done,” said an NBA executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know if the players can trust him. I think he lost the trust of the players unless it’s proven definitively that it wasn’t him.”
Colangelo is in Los Angeles attending agent-run workouts for NBA draft prospects this week. A league source said Colangelo was visibly shaken in a hallway as The Ringer report broke Tuesday while he was attending a BDA Sports Management workout. Along with having two first-round draft picks (10th and 26th overall), the team is preparing to make a big splash in free agency, which begins on July 1. James is the Sixers’ most sought-after target, but they are also eyeing Oklahoma City Thunder all-star Paul George, among others, according to sources.
Colangelo is in Los Angeles attending agent-run workouts for NBA draft prospects this week. A league source said Colangelo was visibly shaken in a hallway as The Ringer report broke Tuesday while he was attending a BDA Sports Management workout.
The problem with Colangelo’s denials, however, is that those tweets were aligned with some of the frustrations and beliefs inside the organization. According to several sources, that’s why several players believe Colangelo is linked to the tweets even if he did not directly post from the burner accounts.
Adrian Wojnarowski: 76ers president Bryan Colangelo has been actively reaching out to individuals mentioned in those burner accounts, insisting that he isn't responsible for those tweets, league sources tell ESPN. Sixers probe is underway in aftermath of The Ringer story.
Dan Gelston: 76ers Set to investigate the burner accounts: "An online media outlet filed a story linking multiple social media accounts to 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo. The allegations are serious and we have commenced an independent investigation into the matter. We will report the results of that investigation as soon as it is concluded."
Adrian Wojnarowski: Nevertheless, Colangelo is denying he is responsible for those tweets and many league executives seem to believe this: It is hard to fathom a GM risking his job in such a reckless manner. Many are giving him the benefit of doubt on that level alone. It just doesn’t add up. twitter.com/wojespn/status…
Jared Weiss: The thing that gets me with the Colangelo story is that one of the details he/it tweeted was something I was told by a league source right around that same time.
Joel Embiid: Fun night on Twitter lmao.. All jokes asides I don’t believe the story. That would just be insane.
Keith Pompey: Things are officially a hot mess inside of the #Sixers’ organization. @Joelembiid responds to the Ringer report that Bryan Colangelo allegedly talked about via a burner account.
Alex Kennedy: Innocent until proven guilty, but The Ringer article is pretty damning. And the activity on the accounts seems to suggest it's true. At one point, he tweeted to a reporter that he should request an interview with Colangelo through the 76ers so he could tell his side of the story! Trevor Booker: Yeah I’m looking at all the evidence now and it’s not looking good 🤦🏾♂️
Rich Nurse: Now I really want to know if Brian Colangelo was in a restuarant with @DwyaneWade & @itsgabrielleu in Beijing in 08... if he was I guess that ties the badmouthing burner account to him??? Dwyane Wade: I guess all black people do look alike 🤷🏾♂️ because @itsgabrielleu wasn’t at the Olympic in 08. Clearly Eric Jr lied 🤥
Bryan Colangelo: Like many of my colleagues in sports, I have used social media as a means to keep up with the news. While I have never posted anything whatsoever on social media, I have used the @Phila1234567 Twitter account referenced in this story to monitor our industry and other current events. This storyline is disturbing to me on many levels, as I am not familiar with any of the other accounts that have been brought to my attention, nor do I know who is behind them or what their motives may be in using them.
Shams Charania: In speaking to 76ers president Bryan Colangelo tonight in Los Angeles, Colangelo says he stands by his statement: No knowledge of “motives or origin.”
Adrian Wojnarowski: Maybe there’s an IT person who can prove it wasn’t Bryan Colangelo, but here’s one of his biggest problems in disputing Ringer story: Those tweets reflected not only private team biz, but launched personal beefs/jealousies/frustrations that he’s shared inside and outside 76ers.
Derek Bodner: Three of the five twitter accounts referenced in the @ringer report (@s_bonhams, @honesta34197118, @AlVic40117560) have a recovery phone number that end in 91, suggesting they were run by the same individual. (h/t to @OhWowHmm).
Zach Lowe: Prevailing sentiment around the league so far -- and w/in the Sixers -- is confusion and "wait and see." (And, outside the Sixers, a whole lot of snark in addition to the above stuff).
Scott Wheeler: Joel Embiid is now liking all of the burner account tweets about himself in real time. What a world.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid tells ESPN on Bryan Colangelo: “I talked to him and he said that he didn’t say that. He called me just to deny the story. Gotta believe him until proven otherwise. If true though, that would be really bad.”
Trevor Booker: Just when I was getting depressed bc there weren’t any NBA tonight, this happens. I knew there was a basketball god after all.
The five accounts pinpointed by the unnamed source included one that followed media members, Sixers employees, and NBA agents but never tweets (its handle is @phila1234567, and it has no account name), and four that have posted tweets or replied to other users. Of those, one was active between April 2016 and May 2017 (its account name is Eric jr, and its handle is @AlVic40117560), two were active within the past five months (HonestAbe / @Honesta34197118 and Enoughunkownsources / @Enoughunkownso1), and one was posting several times a day (Still Balling / @s_bonhams) and as recently as last week.
On February 12, while Okafor was home in Philadelphia as the team traveled, a writer for the blog The Sixers Sense named Brian Jacobs posted a highlight from then-Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Eric jr replied, seemingly off topic, “I must be nuts, I cannot sleep because I worry Jah will not pass physical exams and sent back.” The next day, Jacobs posted a prospective trade that would ship Okafor to the Pelicans for E’Twaun Moore and a pick. Eric jr responded again. “I feel it in my bones, deal was done and Jah did not pass physical,” the account wrote. “Let’s wait & see, only possibility at this point.”
One source familiar with Okafor trade negotiations between the Sixers and the New Orleans Pelicans told The Ringer that the source was not aware of any failed physical for Okafor, and that the deal fell through because Colangelo and Pelicans general manager Dell Demps could not agree on pick protections.
