Joel Embiid talks relationship with Sixers' front office after loss
Joel Embiid talks relationship with Sixers' front office after loss
Ky Carlin, Sixers WireMon, May 11, 2026 at 11:02 AM UTC
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Joel Embiid talks relationship with Sixers' front office after loss
PHILADELPHIA -- The 2025-26 season is in the books for the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a bounce back season following a miserable 24-58 season in 2024-25 as Philadelphia rallied to finish 45-37 in the regular season, and defeat the Boston Celtics in Round 1 before being swept by the New York Knicks with a 144-114 loss in Game 4 on Sunday.
Now is the time to look ahead to the offseason. One has to wonder what the relationship with the front office is like for Joel Embiid. The big fella pleaded at the trade deadline to not just "duck the tax" and was hoping the team would add. He also was not happy after being ruled out of an April 1 win over the Washington Wizards in which he claimed he found out he was ruled out on Twitter and called out President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey by name.
As Embiid and the Sixers now head into the offseason, he addressed his relationship with the front office and the team going forward.
"I love Philly," said Embiid. "I've been here my whole career, and we haven't won, but it's hard, you know? I've been doing this for a long time. It's hard to win in this league, and everything has to happen. Everybody has to be on the same page. Everybody has to play their best basketball at the same time, and it takes a lot to win. So, I'm disappointed that once again, we didn't get to reach that goal. I don't care. Losing first round, second round, doesn't matter to me."
As Philadelphia moves forward, it could look into plenty of areas to improve. The goal for Embiid right now is to help the Sixers get better. The sweep at the hands of the Knicks was a tough pill for everybody to swallow. Now, they must move forward.
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"Quite frankly, New York was just better than us in everything," Embiid added. "So we just gotta look at each other, starting with me, but that's where I put it on me where I felt like I wasn't around for much of the season for a lot of things, and moving forward understanding what it takes when it comes to my body, and what we have to do as a group to make sure that I get to play every game. I felt like we found that solution, so it’ll be better next year, but yeah, I'm just disappointed that we didn't get the chance to—another year, no championship. Just everybody's gotta look at themselves, starting with me. What can I do better to be more available, play better basketball, and then go from there."
Embiid is going to keep getting better and do his best to help the Sixers get back and take an even bigger step in the 2026-27 season. He is going to look at himself as well as Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to help them take steps forward in the future. That is what he's focused on. He isn't going to try and do Morey's job and try to figure who or what type of player the Sixers need to add.
"I don't know. That's not my job," Embiid stated. "If I was a GM, I would answer that question, but I'm just a player. I think I got to focus on myself and my job as a leader, too is helping everybody else. Helping Tyrese, like I've done. VJ is up next. Philly got a good one in him, and he's the guy. I think I'm telling you guys. That guy is something different. This was only year one. Year two is going to be better. Year three, even better, but he has a chance to be extremely special. So, providing that assistance for those younger guys and helping them keep going."
While Embiid is not going to sit here and try to play GM, he is going to be the best leader he can possibly be as he moves forward in his career. He is quickly becoming the elder statesman on the team and will have to take on more responsibility as a leader. While the front office does its best to put a championship team around him, he will look to help Maxey, Edgecombe, and the other youngsters grow in their games.
"I've seen a lot," Embiid finished. "I've dealt with a lot off the court, on the court. Just helping everybody as a whole. Not just them, providing kind of like that leadership. So, like I said, I can't answer your question because I'm not the GM, but I just hope that you look at the bigs we just played against. A great team. Guys coming off the bench, everybody just coming in and doing their job.I feel like we have that. So, it's just about us. Just looking at ourselves and want to improve whatever you got to improve on. Obviously, leaning on the front office, coaches, trying to understand what they need from you and going out there, and actually working on it, and getting better."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Joel Embiid talks relationship with Sixers' front office after loss
Source: “AOL Sports”
