In the most recent episode of ‘Inside the NBA’ basketball legend Charles Barkley made it clear where he stands on the leaked private meeting between 76ers players and coaches. In a similar tune to Joel Embiid, he called on the “leaker” to receive some serious blowback.
“Whoever leaked that to the press needs to be punched in the face. In a team meeting, those are secret. You can’t tell out secrets in a team meeting. When you’re in those meetings, they’re very personal especially when you call out a guy like that. Joel has to own being late all the time, but that should have never gotten to the press.”
Barkley also sent a message directly to Joel Embiid on the news that he’s frequently late to team events. As part of the team meeting, Maxey called out the franchise star and challenged him to lead by example.
“You can’t be late all the time,” Barkley said. “That’s disrespectful to your teammates and your coaches and everybody. You can’t be late. Joel has to own that.”
It’s been a miserable season for the 76ers, and the struggles began on day one when both of their stars were out of the lineup. Even now that they’re back, the struggles continue both on and off the court with a poor record (3-13) and abysmal chemistry on the court.
Recently, things hit rock bottom when an anonymous leaker put the issues in the locker room on full public display. The “leaker” incident happened last week when the 76ers had a private team meeting at the end of a loss. The players and coaches gathered together for a tell-all session in the locker room, and the impression was that it made a positive impact on the team.
On the Podcast P show, Paul George and Reggie Jackson gave their own perspective on the meeting and confirmed that it only included the most trusted members of the team. What it means is that someone deep inside the 76ers locker room is sharing their private business with the media, and that’s akin to the ultimate betrayal in the NBA. We’re already seeing its effects.
Because of the leak, mistrust now runs deep within the organization and there will be hesitation to share something internally in fear of the media finding out. That’s not to mention all the rumors and speculation swirling about Tyrese Maxey.
Now that his outburst on Embiid is public knowledge, teams might feel more emboldened to consider a potential pursuit of the young sharpshooter. At the very least, there is room for doubt in his partnership with Embiid.
Needless to say, leaking the 76ers team meeting did a lot of damage and may have undermined all of the progress they’ve made so far. What’s worse is that they’ll probably never know who it was that told their secret.
All the 76ers can do now is move on and try to play through the drama, and it’s what they’ll have to do if they want to salvage what’s left of this season. With a lot of time still left to play, the 76ers have to focus on each other if they want to survive, and that could mean finding the snitch to secure their locker room once and for all.
The 76ers are off on Tuesday before their next game against the Houston Rockets at Wells Fargo Center. They don’t return again until November 30th, when they play the Pistons at Little Caesar’s Arena at 7:00 PM EST. Finally, they play the Hornets on Tuesday, at Spectrum Center, for another round of the NBA Emirates Cup.
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