PHILADELPHIA, PA — A frustrating start to the season for the Philadelphia 76ers as they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks by a final score of 109-124. The Sixers were shorthanded, without two of their top stars, and despite flashes of fight throughout the game, the team was, for the most part, simply outmatched.
Frustration has been a running theme as of late in relation to the Sixers. The specific reason could be debated; in truth, it’s an amalgam, but the trickle-down begins with the absence of Joel Embiid and Paul George.
The sheer fact of the situation is that the star pairing will not play 80% percent of the season together, or possibly even at all. Missing not one but two of your elite talents is enough to frustrate any team, or fanbase for that matter.
Compound that with the lack of clarity around Joel Embiid’s “individual treatment plan” and a most likely pending investigation by the NBA into the matter, and you have officially scratched the surface of the dramatics early in the Sixers’ season.
Flash forward to the team’s postgame press conference. Unsatisfied by the loss, it was now time to once again answer questions about Joel Embiid’s absence. Tyrese Maxey was asked several different ways about the impact Embiid’s absence had on the game, such as having to serve as the team’s top offensive option.
Maxey, clearly frustrated by the situation, discussed the areas he needs to improve to lead the team to a more positive result moving forward. Throughout the conversation, Maxey calmly explained what went wrong and what has to change moving forward. That was the case until he was asked directly about the team’s poor performance without Joel Embiid.
“We’ve played one game. So I’m not about to sit here and say that just because Jo was out, that we played bad. Yes, we did not win the game, which is the ultimate goal, but we’ve been without Jo all preseason, all training camp, for the most part, he’s been ramping up.”
“We have to go out there and execute what we worked on. I mean, us winning can’t be solely on Joel Embiid it just can’t… I feel like tonight, we gotta make shots, and we gotta keep playing the right way. And I think we’ll be better. I’ll definitely be better. So I’m not gonna worry about that.”
The days of one player carrying a team to greatness are no longer—if they were ever truly here.
If Philadelphia is going to succeed in its goal of winning an NBA championship, then the team is going to have to find a way to survive without Embiid. Not because of some proclaimed notion that Embiid will not be healthy when it counts. Not because of any ability, or lack thereof, on Embiid’s part to perform when placed in critical postseason moments. But because every star needs support. Maybe not from the entire team, maybe not enough to carry them, but they need capable and above-level play.
For years, Allen Iverson played around an underwhelming amount of talent. While he will defend his teammates until the day he dies and say that he played with dogs, the lack of complimentary talent was apparent even to casual fans.
This is no defense of Joel Embiid by Maxey but a call to action for the entire team. The truth is that Philadelphia will play far more than a few games without Embiid, and those games simply cannot be scheduled losses. The Sixers must find a way to improve as a unit, not just for the sake of playoff positioning but to ensure that when the moment comes, they truly are ready to compete for greatness.
As Maxey stated, this is just one game. Over time, chemistry will continue to develop. The eventual return of Paul George will surely help as well. Without multiple stars, in their first game as a new-look squad, the Sixers looked somewhat competitive against a squad with far more continuity. Things will improve in time.
The Sixers simply have to trust the process and continue to work to get one percent better every day.
