The Sixer Sense
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4 Things the Philadelphia 76ers Need to Change

By Josh Wilson

Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) and center Jahlil Okafor (8) celebrate a score against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Nerlens Noel (4) and center Jahlil Okafor (8) celebrate a score against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Put Joel Embiid in front of the media

Secondly, the team needs to put 2014 first round pick Joel Embiid in front of the media.

Embiid has not spoken to the media very much since being drafted in 2014, thanks to the current rules about players talking. A player does not have to talk to the media after games if they are inactive, and they do not have to talk after practices if they are not involved in full-court scrimmages.

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Embiid has been sitting out his first two full seasons due to injury, and has not qualified to talk to the media in either of those cases. The Sixers and Embiid could agree to put him in front of the media anyway, but they have not done so.

I believe that the team needs to start doing that, regardless of his injury status. I understood the reasoning for not before, since he needed to be protected as much as possible from bad press, but making him available to the media is one of the best ways to get the media members to like him, and publish positive stories about him. Keeping him sheltered from media only caused more speculation and more questions to be brought up.

The team may have not put him out for media this season due to evidence last year that he didn’t know how to approach people with microphones and cameras. He told paparazzi after eating dinner with John Wall last summer that he was “playing a lot of video games” as part of his rehab for his foot, and that was not taken well by some fans and writers.

Some took this as an effort to not take his rehab seriously, but really, Embiid is just a funny guy. And because of that, he’s incredibly likable, and the media — as well as fans — will fall in love with his sense of humor when he’s allowed to start talking to media.

Next: Be more transparent