Joel Embiid called for the Philadelphia 76ers players to enact a change in their approach after the team fumbled a 19-point second-quarter lead in their last game against the Miami Heat. However, former NBA stars Lou Williams and Chandler Parsons believe that it is already too late to experiment with new strategies.
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The loss at Kaseya Center takes the 76ers’ record to 2-11, which is the worst in the league. The crew of the Run It Back show doesn’t see how the Sixers can salvage their season from this deep into the quicksand.
Lou Williams admitted that the team is still just three games behind a play-in spot (10th spot) in the East, which shouldn’t warrant an indictment this early into the season. But the 38-year-old doesn’t see anything positive happening for the Philly side that can help pull them back up.
Williams also pointed out that their big three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey haven’t really played together that much. “I don’t think they are healthy enough. I don’t think the chemistry is there. They just haven’t had a realistic shot of building in the direction they would like to build in,” the former Clippers star said of Philly’s star tandem.
There’s no denying that injuries have been a major concern for the 76ers this season as well. Maxey has been out since November 6 due to a hamstring strain. Embiid, who scored just 11 points in his 31 points on the floor against the Heat, is also probably dealing with some kind of injury or fitness issue.
“It’s a wrap for the 76ers this year.” – @ChandlerParsons
“The wheels are falling off of this thing very early on in this season.” – @TeamLou23
Is it time for Joel Embiid and the 76ers to wave this season’s white flag?
▶️ https://t.co/Xoawt9CkOK pic.twitter.com/GbzuhrUY4K
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 19, 2024
Therefore, Chandler Parsons thinks that the Sixers should shut down Embiid and their postseason hopes for the season and focus on the next year. It seems inexcusable to him that the Sixers have a record worse than the Toronto Raptors and similar to the Washington Wizards, two teams who are supposedly tanking to be in contention to draft Cooper Flagg next year.
“You’re [the Sixers are] just wasting your year, just ruining your [Draft] pick. Why even contend and have a play-in and get a middle-of-the-pack pick next year?” Parsons said.
“You need to be healthy and it starts with Joel Embiid. And he’s not [healthy]…They need to pull the plug.”
This might seem harsh so early into the season, but the 76ers’ locker room chemistry is not looking good either. The team’s inner turmoil got exposed after reports suggested that Tyrese Maxey has apparently called out Joel Embiid in a team meeting for being late “for everything“.
The 24-year-old thinks that Embiid’s propensity to be late is affecting the mindset of the team.
Such reports are never a good sign for a team that had Championship aspirations before the season started. Williams and Parsons’ remarks should be seriously considered by the 76ers’ organisation. There’s no way that the team can be competitive in the playoffs after being down at rock-bottom 13 games into the season.
They should pull the plug early to have ample time to recover before next season.
