Inside Sixers: Joel Embiid’s Christmas fashion, a reunion with Isaiah Joe and more behind-the-scenes moments from the week

“I had to take a picture of that,” a gleeful Tyrese Maxey said with his cellphone in hand. “We may never see this again.”

The visitors’ locker room at Madison Square Garden was abuzz when Joel Embiid entered on Christmas morning. The 76ers’ All-NBA center is not usually concerned with high fashion, often changing into a team-issued sweat suit following games. Yet for the nationally televised showcase game against the Knicks, Embiid arrived wearing a sharp blue letterman-style jacket over a white hoodie and gray pants.

Playful affirmations of “That’s nice, Jo!” and “I’m so proud of you!” rang from all sides of the locker room. Veteran forward P.J. Tucker, who is known for some eclectic (aka wild) wardrobe choices, abruptly popped out of the training room wearing only his tights to get a look.

“I just don’t know how you guys do it,” Embiid called out to his teammates who care far more about their game-day outfits. “This took me like 45 minutes to pick.”

This entertaining scene, oddly enough, occurred minutes before ESPN reported that Sixers star James Harden was considering a return to Houston in free agency this summer. Almost instantly, the mood shifted, including a curt response from Harden when The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey approached to ask about the report, before returning to a lighthearted mood following the Sixers’ comeback win.

» READ MORE: Pelicans are ‘going to be a hard out’ in playoffs, Sixers coach Doc Rivers says

Perhaps that captures this week for the Sixers. They celebrated more than the holidays with victories over the Knicks on Christmas and the Oklahoma City Thunder on New Year’s Eve, but, in between, they dropped disappointing games at the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans. The locker room was nearly as boisterous following Saturday’s dominant victory while shorthanded over the Thunder, where players sneaked glances at the instant-classic college football playoff semifinal between Georgia and Ohio State while preparing to head home from a four-game road trip.

Here are more behind-the-scenes moments that peppered the week:

This week was also marked by Maxey’s return from a fractured foot that kept him sidelined for about six weeks. Excitement brewed more than 90 minutes before tipoff in New Orleans, as Maxey laced up his bright green sneakers for his pregame routine.

While going through exercises with strength and conditioning coach Ben Kenyon, assistant coach Sam Cassell, and skill development coach Spencer Rivers gravitated toward Maxey on the baseline. Teammate Shake Milton dapped up Maxey. At the end of his shooting work, Maxey elevated for a dunk.

And when the Sixers emerged from the locker room about 15 minutes before tipoff, Maxey led them out of the tunnel.

The return to some normalcy also allowed Maxey to reflect on the previous weeks of rehab. He gave a shout-out to senior physical therapist John Tooher and skill development coach Tyler Lashbrook, who helped Maxey with ballhandling and on-court work that “kept me active” without causing further injury.

“You can’t get bored with it,” Maxey said of his recovery process. “One of my things that I was trying to do was really challenge myself.”

Doc Rivers went from the Sixers’ Thursday practice in New Orleans to another team’s workout, visiting Alabama’s football team as it prepared for the Sugar Bowl on Saturday at the Superdome.

Rivers has long picked the brains of football coaches, who impress him with their ability to get 11 players to buy in and execute on every snap. During the last two seasons, Rivers and Eagles coach Nick Siriani have developed a rapport of respect. And Rivers, naturally, is a “big Saban guy,” referring to Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is perhaps the greatest in the history of his sport.

“He just wins,” Rivers said of Saban. “But I like a lot of the stuff he does. I was really happy for their quarterback, [Bryce] Young. I don’t know why, even in the NFL, they don’t take quarterbacks out when it’s a blowout. That always miffs me. And Saban did that [at the end of the Sugar Bowl]. He took him out with, I think, seven minutes left in the game so he could get his flowers. It was his last game, so that was really cool to watch.”

Tucker missed his first game of the season Saturday with what the team defined as “left knee injury management,” a reference to his offseason surgery. Yet Tucker has also been dealing with nerve damage originating in his neck that is also affecting his right hand.

The veteran forward has publicly revealed discomfort and numbness while shaking his arm or repeatedly opening and closing his hand, most notably when he left Tuesday’s loss at Washington in the second half after aggravating the ailment. He outlined some of the “tedious” treatment, such as small body manipulations called “nerve glides,” to The Inquirer on Thursday.

But some tight quarters in New Orleans — where a training table was set up in the middle of the Sixers’ locker room — offered a glimpse at what Tucker goes through before games.

A medical staffer pressed his fingers into Tucker’s arm and slowly moved down, as if performing a deep-tissue-style massage. With his eyes closed, Tucker grimaced and breathed deeply. To an outsider, that reaction from a player who thrives on physicality and toughness was a bit jarring.

“Isaiah!” Georges Niang hollered from the hallway just outside the Thunder locker room at the Paycom Center. “Come out before I put you in a headlock!”

Niang wanted to reunite with former teammate Isaiah Joe, who got a warm reception from several Sixers players and staff Saturday night. On the court a few minutes earlier, Joe and Paul Reed (who were part of the same 2020 draft class) executed an elaborate handshake. Milton gave Joe a big hug. Joe dapped up Kenyon, associate strength and conditioning coach Stephen Brindle, and skill development coach Dwayne Jones.

Joe has carved out a rotation role with the young Thunder, shooting 44.8% on 3.6 three-point attempts per game. He went 2 of 3 from deep Saturday against the Sixers, and finished with eight points and five rebounds.

Finding a team on which the third-year guard could receive consistent minutes was Rivers’ “brutally honest” message to Joe after the win-now Sixers released him in a roster-trimming move just before the season began. Rivers added that he and Joe still regularly communicate via text message.

“[I told him], ‘You have to go somewhere where you can play now. You deserve to play. You were caught in the numbers on our team with all these guys in front of you.’ …

“As a coach, you get a relationship with some of your players, [and] it doesn’t stop when they are no longer with the team. You still care for them. You still want them to do well. Isaiah did everything that we asked him to do, so I’m very happy that he’s doing well.”