Joel Embiid sent the NBA world scrambling this week when he decided to scrub his social media profiles of any references to the Philadelphia 76ers.
It all started on Monday morning, when James Harden appeared at an Adidas event in China and publicly called out Daryl Morey. He described the Sixers team president as a ‘liar’ and said he wouldn’t play for him any more.
This led to multiple players coming out and taking Harden’s side in the feud.
Shortly thereafter, Embiid made his move – scrubbing his social media profiles clean of any references to the 76ers.
Why did Embiid ultimately do what he did? According to Sixers insider Sean Barnard, it was a calculated move.
Normally I think this isn’t worth paying attention to at all but Joel Embiid is too online and calculated that I think it is worth mentioning
Embiid removed “Processing…” and the location “Philadelphia, PA” from his Twitter bio pic.twitter.com/P1dBLLtckf
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) August 15, 2023
Embiid wants to put pressure on Philly’s front office to resolve the matter. He has already publicly laid seeds of doubt about how much longer he plans to wait around for the 76ers.
Was not expecting Joel Embiid to say “or anywhere else” when talking about championships… He’s close to his breaking point here in Philly. pic.twitter.com/0MqXX1rnrT
— AJ Torres (@ajtorres1230) July 17, 2023
This is just the latest salvo.
According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, everything that is happening with Harden right now influences the team’s relationship with Embiid.
[Wojnarowski] “This is certainly a situation for Philadelphia that they don’t want to domino into Joel Embiid’s future … That clock is always ticking on what it means for your best player and that clock is ticking now for the Sixers and Joel Embiid.”
by u/UnbiasedNBAFan_ in nba
“This is certainly a situation for Philadelphia that they don’t want to domino into Joel Embiid’s future,” he said.
“… That clock is always ticking on what it means for your best player and that clock is ticking now for the Sixers and Joel Embiid.”
The looming 2023-24 NBA season is Year 1 of Embiid’s new four-year contract with the 76ers.
Arizona State 👀👀https://t.co/efu3jGT7Ly
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 15, 2023
In theory, that should mean that Philly is safe as it pertains to their star player.
But as Kevin Durant proved just this past year, that’s not the way things work in the NBA anymore.
Will the 76ers and Embiid be able to get on the same page before it’s too late? Time will tell.
Related: Paulina Gretzky Looks Completely Different After Latest Haircut (Photos)
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
