PHILADELPHIA — One hour after the Philadelphia 76ers captured their 43rd win in one of their most complete performances of the season, star center Joel Embiid voiced frustration with the organization — and general manager Daryl Morey — over not playing in a game earlier in the week.
“I was pissed off,” Embiid said Friday in his first public comments since the team held him out of Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards with an illness. “I wanted to play basketball. I wasn’t allowed to play basketball. So, this is more of a question for Daryl Morey.”
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The 76ers listed Embiid as out for Wednesday’s game, prompting the 32-year-old center to write on X that it was an April Fools’ joke. He didn’t play in the 76ers’ 153-131 win over Washington, then returned Friday with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in a 115-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After the win over Minnesota, Embiid said he was caught off guard by the 76ers’ decision to rule him out for Wednesday’s game. While his illness prevented him from attending the team’s morning film session, he said he felt better as the day progressed and made it known that he desired to get on the floor.
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“I was obviously pretty sick in Miami, but I still wanted to give us a chance to go out there and do something,” Embiid said. “I didn’t sleep the night before, but I felt better going into Washington. I didn’t make it to shootaround. But when I found out after that I wasn’t playing, it caught me off guard. It pissed me off.
“But it doesn’t matter what I think. I have to follow directions.”
A league source told The Athletic that the organization, in consultation with the team physician, decided to hold Embiid out of Wednesday’s game because he had been fighting the illness for three consecutive days and had missed the shootaround.
Embiid, however, disagreed with the decision and stated his desire to play. Later that afternoon, he posted on X: “I guess they won’t let me play basketball!!!”
The comments come as the 76ers (43-34) are playing some of their best basketball of the season, having won four of their last five games to climb from ninth to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. In Friday’s win over the Timberwolves, they played arguably their best two-way half of the season in the third and fourth quarters.
Embiid, after a rough first half, was terrific in the second while shutting down the paint. While he has been terrific offensively when healthy, he has largely struggled defensively.
“He was sensational defensively,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.
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The 76ers’ recent success makes it even more important for Embiid to get on the same page with management. For perhaps the first time all season, Philadelphia is gelling as a unit. The main characters are healthy, with Tyrese Maxey and Paul George recently returning to the lineup from injury and suspension, respectively.
The Sixers will play the Detroit Pistons on Saturday in another important matchup as they try to avoid the Play-In Tournament. Embiid, who has not played in both ends of a back-to-back all season, alluded to the possibility of suiting up.
Regardless, for now, there’s little doubt that he and the 76ers need to mend some fences.