When Sixers head coach Nick Nurse took more than an hour to conduct his postgame press conference after his team experienced a horrific collapse in a loss to the Miami Heat — sinking their record to 2-11 — it did not require a detective to figure out what was going on.
Nurse confirmed the team had a meeting, which he referred to as "little" while declining to offer any details of what went on behind closed doors.
On Tuesday afternoon, though, Shams Charania of ESPN published a detailed report of the happenings of the meeting.
Unsurprisingly, at the center is Joel Embiid, who Charania reports was "challenged" in front of the team and coaching staff by All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey.
"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," Charania reported.
A person present for the meeting told Charania, "Tyrese loves Big Fella' but this is the elephant in the room," ESPN's Senior Insider said.
Given the nature of his rigorous routine which is often required for Embiid to get in game condition due to his enormous frame and lengthy injury history, Embiid has often operated on a slightly different schedule than many of his teammates during his career with the Sixers. But consistent tardiness is generally not accepted by teams, and it is expected that the best player on any team will be the one to set the standard for their teammates. Clearly, Maxey and co. feel that Embiid has not carried his weight in that regard.
Later on, Charania writes that "Embiid accepted the messages sent in the meeting, sources said, but he stated he is confused about what the 76ers are attempting to execute sometimes on the court."
There are two ways to read the sentence above: either Embiid is confused by the literal contents of the team's strategies, or he is confused by the motivations behind them. Whichever interpretation is correct, it reflects poorly on all parties involved.
This is Nurse's second year coaching Embiid, Maxey and the Sixers. It his seventh year as the head coach of an NBA team. He has a .569 winning percentage across those six-plus years as a lead shot-caller and led the Toronto Raptors to an NBA Finals victory in his very first year as an NBA head coach. It is hard to imagine Nurse has suddenly become incapable of properly conveying points of emphasis.
However, in fairness to Embiid, many watching the Sixers during their first 13 games have also spent much of that time unsure what the team is doing, particularly on the offensive floor, where Nurse has not been able to figure out how to work around lengthy absences for Embiid, Maxey and newcomer All-Star Paul George.
The only two players on the roster who have not notably underperformed relative to expectations are rookie guard Jared McCain — who Nurse has quickly elevated into his starting five — and Guerschon Yabusele, who found himself out of the rotation in Miami for the first time all season.
MORE: Sixers collapse vs. Heat
The Sixers have been roughly in the middle of the pack among NBA teams on the defensive end. As an offense, they have been far worse than any other NBA team — following Monday's action, they owned the worst Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 possessions) of any NBA team, nearly 2.5 points behind the second-worst Washington Wizards.
Charania reported that Sixers players informed Nurse that they wanted to be "coached harder" moving forward.
"Coaches in turn said they want players to practice with purpose and attention to detail," Charania reported.
According to Charania, the meeting was called by veteran point guard Kyle Lowry — hardly a surprise to anyone who is familiar with Lowry's passion and lack of tolerance for bad habits. Of course, it is also worth noting that Lowry was Nurse's floor general for many Raptors teams, and that Lowry has said Nurse's presence was a critical factor in his decision to sign with the Sixers last February and again over the summer.
Ultimately, teams typically look to its best players to be the example of how everyone should be: not just for 48 minutes on the hardwood, but during practices, shootarounds, film sessions and other team activities. Maxey felt Embiid was not performing those duties at a satisfactory level and took things into his own hands.
MORE: Can Embiid and Sixers find a way out of this?
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