During the 76ers’ preseason opener against the Knicks on Monday night, Mike Breen told an MSG Network audience that a source had said Joel Embiid “walked out on the court a couple of minutes late, and LeBron let him hear it.” The item spread on Tuesday.
LeBron James answered it himself on Instagram: “He ain’t been late, so stop the lies.”
On Wednesday, Nick Nurse used his media availability to back his player and sound irritated about having to.
What the coach actually said
“He’s in great shape. He’s been on the practice floor. He’s worked very hard, and he looks really great,” Nurse said of Embiid.
Then the part with an edge: “It just surprises me that something like that came out right now.” He added that he was surprised “by what I was told before and what you guys are asking me about, because he’s been excellent.”
Philadelphia won that opener 120-97. James did not play.
Why this story had legs
Because of who it is about. Embiid’s availability and conditioning have been the central question of every Philadelphia season for a decade. James joined the 76ers this offseason, taking $8 million to do it, and said at media day that he did not leave his family to lose in the second round.
Put those two facts next to a report that the newcomer publicly disciplined the franchise center over punctuality, and it writes itself. That is exactly why it needed a second source before it ran.
The on-air report has not been supported
Breen attributed it to a source. James denied it directly. Nurse denied it directly. Nobody has produced a second person backing the original claim.
Preseason broadcasts are long, and filling them involves repeating things people hear in hallways. There is a difference between color commentary and reporting that a superstar dressed down a teammate, and this was presented as the second thing.
What Philadelphia actually has to worry about
Not this. The 76ers have a 41-year-old James in his 24th season, an Embiid whose coach says is in great shape, and a front office in transition after Daryl Morey was fired as head of basketball operations in May, with Bob Myers leading the replacement search and Nurse retained.
They also opened the preseason by losing center Ariel Hukporti to a ruptured right Achilles in that same Monday game. Hukporti, a former Knick, had signed a one-year, $3.4 million deal with Philadelphia over the summer and is out for the season. Video of James laughing with Knicks assistant Rick Brunson while Hukporti was helped off drew its own round of fan criticism on Wednesday, though the laugh was unrelated to the injury.
The real test is in two weeks
The regular season opens October 20. The 76ers are the team everyone in the Eastern Conference is pointing at, with the champion Knicks ahead of them and Giannis Antetokounmpo now in Miami.
Whether Embiid is on the floor in April is the only question that matters in Philadelphia. Whether he was two minutes late to a practice in October is not a question at all, and his head coach said as much.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.