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Is There Distrust In The Sixers Locker Room?

By Josh Wilson

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“The process” is commonly referred to by Philadelphia 76ers fans as the rebuilding phase that’s currently happening in the organization, and the power that general manager Sam Hinkie has within this process. In some instances, it’s been heavily reported that he has full control over basketball operations, and completed some transactions without consulting Scott O’Neil (team CEO). Quote from SI.com article:

"According to multiple league sources, last season’s decision to trade point guard Michael Carter-Williams — Hinkie’s first draft pick with the franchise in 2013, and a second-year player coming off winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award — was Hinkie’s alone, and the move angered both head coach Brett Brown and CEO Scott O’Neil, who were caught unaware."

O’Neil denied this allegation through the team’s PR director Michael Preston. Brown also explained to the media that a lot about the story wasn’t presented in a way that was completely factual.

It took a while for fans to start trusting what Hinkie was doing, as he’s made a lot of trades that had them shaking their heads and wondering what the team was coming to. At points, it’s seemed like losing was intentional. Now, the general consensus is that stashing draft picks and overseas players will eventually be beneficial, but it looks like some players (and team staff) are questioning the process as well, and possibly being difficult to deal with.

Sports Illustrated published an article on Friday detailing how some players are actually undermining the process. The main culprit being Joel Embiid, who is missing his second straight season this year with problems in his navicular bone in his foot. Part of the issue with Embiid’s injury (he was supposed to return this season) is that he doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously. Embiid has not worn a boot on his foot when staff members thought he should, and showed up to this year’s Las Vegas summer league when Sixers owner Josh Harris requested that he be kept from doing so to head coach Brett Brown and Hinkie.

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Apparently, a miscommunication occurred, and neither of the two kept Embiid from coming, and he showed up, often dunking, playing basketball, and overall being careless (and most notably not wearing his boot). This is thought of as a huge reason his surgery was delayed, according to the SI article.

What is even more alarming is not that Embiid showed up and was relaxed about his injury, it’s the miscommunication between Brown and Hinkie. One of them should have kept Embiid from coming according to SI and Harris’s request, but neither did.

Further issues occurred, and the team has been concerned with his dieting. They were unable to get him to eat healthier during the time he should have been rehabilitating his injury and keeping his body up to par for when he does return.

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I don’t know what the issue is, but if these reports are true, it’s clearly a problem of distrust, and even down to disrespect. Hearing these things, I think there’s lots of problems. Problems between Harris, Hinkie, and Brown, but also problems with Embiid and those in charge of him. It appears to be just Embiid right now, but what happens if more players start to fall into this pattern of disrespect and disobedience?

Locker room chemistry tends to rub off. If Embiid seems to be practicing a pattern of disrespect to authority, I would assume that it would happen for other players as well.

Embiid needs to be put in line. He needs to start taking his injury seriously, and act like the asset he was first expected to be. It’s not clear if the reason for him acting out is because he “doesn’t trust the process,” but if he simply doesn’t agree with the team’s mission, maybe he should be up front and say that.

With lots of young players in the locker room, their opinion on the team is just beginning to form. If they have an idea coming in of, “this plan won’t work,” then it likely won’t. But if they’re optimistic and thinking of how things could very well turn out to make a competitive team, then they have a much better shot at winning.

I’m going to give my friend George Kondoleon the last word in this piece, because I think he put it best.

Much of the information of this article is from SI’s piece about the Sixers. It was great reporting, and deserves a read from every basketball fan. Read SI.com’s article regarding the distrust in the Sixers’ locker room.

Next: Why Not Keep Christian Wood On The Roster?

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