Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will be extremely frustrated with the way their season came to an end. The 76ers were soundly defeated at home by the Miami Heat in Game 6 of their second-round series.
The 76ers failed to show up in their win-or-go-home game and were eliminated by the 76ers. A lot of blame has been cast on multiple people within the 76ers organization. But Joel Embiid believes that it is himself and the rest of the 76ers players that need to be held accountable for the loss.
During his post-game press conference, Joel Embiid spoke about Daryl Morey, the 76ers president of basketball operations, praising him for the work he has done building the team (12:52 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98C9V5tgFY
With regards to blaming management or the coaching staff, Embiid actually accepted the blame on behalf of the players, saying that the players need to look themselves in the mirror and see why they have not found success (14:16 onwards):
Joel Embiid, asked whether he still has faith in the front office and the coaching staff: "At some point you gotta stop looking at the coaches or the front office…the players also gotta do their jobs."
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) May 13, 2022
Joel Embiid: “Pretty good. Since Daryl has got here I think he has done a fantastic job…Seth was a huge part of what we did, and this year bringing in Andre, who helped us a lot.”
“At some point you gotta stop looking at the coaches or the front office…the players also gotta do their jobs.”
Despite Embiid’s comments, Doc Rivers has been blamed a lot for their playoff performance. Rivers seemed to get defensive during his post-game press conference, noting that he is not worried about his job. But he also admitted that the 76ers were just not good enough to beat the Miami Heat.
Embiid also seemed to change his tune with regards to James Harden, as he told fans that he is no longer the player he was in Houston, a far cry from what he had to say about the former MVP after their first game together. It will be an interesting offseason in Philadelphia, as someone is bound to accept the blame for their abysmal performance in the playoffs.
