Another day, another dismay. The Philadelphia 76ers once again did not fail to put on a shellshocking performance for all the wrong reasons, allowing the visiting (and cellar-dwelling) Toronto Raptors to put them in a chokehold before they pulled away at the last minute en route to a big upset on the road.
After losing their 33rd game of the season — after just 53 tries, no less — the 76ers remain somehow just a hair below 10th-seeded Chicago, showing how much of a trek just qualifying for the playoffs is for this uber-talented squad. Clearly, there is something to be said about this irony, one that perhaps traces back to the team’s big decision-makers.
Naturally, Daryl Morey himself is the 76ers brass personified. The longtime executive may have made some shrewd moves, just as recently as last week even, but he has also been suspect this season for the number of moves from last summer that backfired and basically hampered the team despite lofty preseason expectations.
It’s about time for 76ers fans to admit that James Harden was right
Remember that tumultuous time when James Harden demanded out of Philly just last season thanks to a public feud with Morey, whom he strongly expressed a disdain for and called a liar due to the executive’s refusal to hand him a contract extension? Well, that is definitely aging well not for the 76ers, but for him.
Harden, now with the Clippers, is enjoying a relatively stable situation now as the 76ers are now gasping for air. It also doesn’t snot help that he may have been right all along in calling Morey a liar. Case in point? Here is Morey’s take on the Joel Embiid situation.
"Yes, it often looks like he's about to play and then he doesn't and that's just because we're managing symptoms. On this injury that he had last February and he had the procedure on, it's one that you manage symptoms. We're optimistic long term, talking to the doctors, and our understanding from talking with multiple experts - I think we're lat] 7, 8, 9, 10 at this point of the top people in the world all see this as one that over time will improve. But it's happened slower than anyone's anticipated. But we love how Joel's fighting."
Sounds familiar? It honestly should not, as this is a clear and unerring contradiction of what Embiid himself had admitted a few days ago when it was revealed that he could undergo another surgery this summer to hopefully fix his persistent knee issues.
This apparent disconnect between the front office and Embiid himself as regards his injury situation is pretty telling of what Morey could be brewing behind the scenes which, at this points, look like plain lies. Early in the season, there was a frustrating stretch of the front office inhibiting information from the public — if not outright deceiving fans — about the superstar’s status to the point where the NBA had to step in.
At this point, by Daryl Morey’s actuations, he is only making James Harden look like one hell of a clairvoyant, if not a simple truth-teller. And by all accounts, that is something the Philadelphia 76ers have to address sooner than later.