Tyrese Maxey reportedly called out Joel Embiid during Sixers’ lengthy postgame team meeting

MEMPHIS — Details have emerged from the 76ers team meeting that delayed coach Nick Nurse’s postgame news conference and locker-room player interviews by more than an hour Monday after a 106-89 loss at the Miami Heat, which dropped their record to 2-11.

Specifics reported by ESPN on Tuesday afternoon include that veteran guard Kyle Lowry initiated the meeting, a possibility floated late Monday to Nurse by Miami-based Associated Press reporter Tim Reynolds, who referenced Lowry calling such meetings while with the Heat. In response to that question, Nurse called the meeting player- and coach-driven. ESPN’s report also said players asked to be coached harder, and, in turn, coaches asked for players to practice “with purpose and attention to detail” while attempting to halt this miserable start to the season.

The most notable nugget, however, was that All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey reportedly challenged Joel Embiid, the league’s MVP in 2023, about frequently being late to team activities.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid says ‘we’ll be fine’ after 2-11 Sixers hold lengthy meeting following loss to Heat

Maxey and Embiid have a deep friendship outside of their potent on-court partnership. Maxey has repeatedly lauded Embiid as the first Sixer to believe in him, while Embiid has called Maxey the best teammate he has ever had. Their lockers are next to each other inside the Wells Fargo Center, and Maxey has hung around to chat with Embiid following recent games even while sidelined with a strained hamstring. Maxey also has been praised by Nurse and teammates for an uptick in leadership in his fifth season, after he became an All-Star last year and signed a max contract over the summer.

Plus, anybody who regularly spends time in the Sixers’ locker room knows Embiid typically is the last player to leave, which for road games results in the final team bus and charter flight being held up whenever the team departs for the next city that night.

During the period when the locker room was open to reporters following Monday’s meeting, Embiid spoke to Lowry (whose locker was next to his) and went over to talk to Maxey, whose space was across the room. When asked about the meeting during his media session a few minutes later, Embiid responded, “Oh, we had a meeting?”

Consider that part of a bizarre Monday for Embiid and his team. The All-Star center initially was listed as questionable to play against the Heat with an illness, after fully participating in Sunday’s practice, Nurse said. After missing that morning’s shootaround, Embiid was downgraded to doubtful. But he came to the arena and decided to play following his pregame warmup that ended about 30 minutes before tipoff and said postgame that he “always wanted to give it a chance, as long as I felt like I could be out there.”

When asked if such a swift status change — especially with a roster that also has eight new players — can be “tricky” from a coaching and game-planning perspective, Nurse downplayed it as “part of the game.” Embiid missed 10 of the Sixers’ first 13 games because of an ongoing knee condition following meniscus surgery last February and a suspension for shoving Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes during a postgame locker room altercation on Nov. 2.

Maxey and Embiid have yet to share the court this season, which surely contributes to their team’s bad start. Ditto for splashy free-agency addition Paul George. Those three in action together then would shift complementary players into their desired roles.

Embiid said entering the season that he hoped to “empower” teammates more, rather than putting up the shot volume that made him the NBA’s leading scorer in consecutive seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23). But because of the Sixers’ poor record, Embiid said Monday that he might need to change that approach and “be more aggressive” in upcoming games.

“It’s all about finding the right balance of it,” he said. “When to be aggressive. When to set up guys. And when to let everybody do their thing. But, then again, there’s also times where you’ve got that record and something needs to be done about it.”

» READ MORE: Sixers blow 19-point first-half lead in 106-89 loss at Miami Heat, dropping their fourth straight game

Nurse said late Monday that basketball tactics also were discussed during the meeting.

The Sixers enter Tuesday as the NBA’s worst statistical offense, ranking last in the league in efficiency (104.2 points per 100 possessions) and field-goal percentage (42.8). Though Monday’s game — when they built a 19-point first half lead — featured perhaps their best shot generation of the season, Nurse said, turnovers and missed wide-open looks continue to put the defense in difficult transition spots. Overall, Nurse reiterated that the Sixers’ good stretches on both ends of the floor are not long enough, and the poor stretches need to trend more toward average than awful.

“You are going to go through missed shots,” Nurse said. “And you are going to go through some clunky play at times and stuff. But we need to not let it be so bad.”

Nurse on Monday called players “very attentive and very communicative” during that lengthy meeting. But coaches and players will not know if it ignites a turnaround until they take the floor again.

“We can only ever find out until we get to practice,” Nurse said, “and see what the level of focus and energy is like.”