The Sixers have been impressed with Joel Embiid’s vocal leadership: ‘It’s great for us’

Every time the 76ers walk onto the court, they almost certainly have the best player in Joel Embiid — the type of elite talent that can be too much for opponents to handle.

But the six-time All-Star’s talent isn’t the only thing folks are noticing.

“I feel the leadership coming from Joel has been on another level this year,” third-year guard Tyrese Maxey said after Wednesday’s practice. “... He’s raised his level of play, so we will have to raise ours. That’s our best player.

“But the way he’s been vocal about it, telling guys that he needs them to step up.”

» READ MORE: Doc Rivers driven by underdog attitude as he enters what could be final Sixers postseason

That was all part of the plan when Doc Rivers was hired as coach on Oct. 2, 2021. Rivers, who coached vocal Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett and future Hall of Famer Chris Paul in previous stops, pushed for Embiid to be more vocal.

“The more the best player becomes that, the better the team becomes,” Rivers said. “I used it the other day with [Eagles quarterback] Jalen Hurts becoming the CEO of his team; that’s what Joel has to be at times.

“That was actually said in one of my timeouts the other night that, ‘You have to say it. You have to do’ … It’s not a natural thing, no. But he’s doing it and it’s been great for us.”

Embiid gets on teammates after blown defensive assignments. He’s also been one of their biggest cheerleaders after they hit a big shot.

A prime example came with 6 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Sixers’ 96-84 Game 2 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night. Passing out of a double-team, Embiid assisted on Tobias Harris’ three-pointer that put the Sixers up, 64-56, forcing Nets coach Jacque Vaughn to call a timeout. In the moment, Embiid pumped his fist and encouraged the Wells Fargo Center crowd to celebrate.

“He’s trusted us as far as when he gets double- and triple-teamed,” Maxey said. “He’s passing out of doubles quick. He’s getting us open shots. He wants us to be successful and he continues to do it even when we are missing shots. So I think that’s just showing his leadership and growth as a player.”

Rivers gives the impression that Embiid and James Harden should be attempting more free throws in the first-round series.

Embiid is 19-for-19 from the foul line through the two games. His average of 9.5 attempts per game rank second in the postseason. And Harden has yet to attempt a foul shot.

In the regular season, Embiid ranked second in the NBA with 11.62 free throws and Harden was 19th at 6.02.

“This is more of a league stat, not our stat, the two guys that get fouled the most in the league and it’s not called are James and Joel,” Rivers said. “In the whole league! And that’s a fact.”

The Nets want to shoot 40 three-pointers per game in this series. The Sixers are fine with that.

“As long as they’re guarded and we do a better job, you can’t stop a team from shooting threes if they want to shoot them,” Rivers said. “They’re going to shoot them.”

» READ MORE: Facing double teams at every turn, Joel Embiid is happy to facilitate and ‘play the right way’

He noted that the Sacramento Kings shoot 50 each night, and succeed in doing so.

So the key, Rivers said, is to make sure they’re 50 shots are rushed, that they’re 50 off the dribble. That’s what the Sixers hope to do when defending the Nets.

“There’s certain threes that we don’t want to give up,” Rivers said. “We gave up six more corner threes. Those are the ones we want to take away as many of those as possible.

“But other than that, defensively, we’re pretty good.”