Following what was a fruitful offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers were expected to be title contenders. This was supposed to be the year that Joel Embiid finally got over the second-round hump and turned his team into a legitimate threat for the Boston Celtics. But by some twist of fate, 14 games into the season, Sixers are the worst team in the league. Period.
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After their latest loss in a fairly well-contested game against the Grizzlies, ESPN’s Tim Legler, taking note of the bleak situation in Philadelphia, had a worrying conclusion for the Sixers. Legler suspects the loss of Paul George to another injury has virtually put an end to any hopes of a comeback. He added that it wasn’t a matter of the personnel they had on the court, but rather how long their players stayed healthy.
“I’m getting to the point where I’m not sure this is going to be survivable. At some point you don’t just need to have guys out there that you expected, you need to have guys out there for a prolonged stretch so they can start to develop the kind of rhythm that you need.”
Of the 14 games that Philly has played, all three of its stars—Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George—have only played one game as a trio; their loss against Memphis. George’s knee injury means another stretch on the sidelines for him. PG has only appeared in 8 games this season, same for Maxey. Moreover, Embiid has played only 4.
For a team that is at the bottom of not just their conference but the entire league’s table, the unavailability of their main cast is beyond concerning. It feels like a repeat of what happened to the Brooklyn Nets but worse.
But Legler believes the Sixers have more problems than just injury on their table at the moment. He recalled how head coach Nick Nurse hasn’t been impressed with his team’s mentality, and how the players get outworked by their opponents.
“And I’m also concerned about some of the things I’ve heard from Nick Nurse this year that doesn’t have to do with health. When he talks about getting outworked, or a team being tougher, or when I interviewed him earlier this year when I called one of his games, he said they get dispirited very easily when things go against them. Basically saying we don’t fight through adversity very well.”
Team morale has certainly been at an all-time low. The palpable tension of being the worst is reportedly wreaking havoc on the locker room chemistry. Tyrese Maxey is frustrated with Joel Embiid for always being late and the team is not too pleased with their head coach’s methods.
But despite what can only be categorized as a disaster, Philadelphia is not ready to depart with its current leadership and plans on trusting Nick Nurse and President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey to guide them out of the slump.
Nurse and Morey are safe, no imminent plans on sackings
The blame for a team’s losses, naturally, the head coach faces the brunt of the blame. It is not rare for coaches to be fired mid-season when their team is unable to fulfill the expectations. In Philly’s case, however, Nick Nurse seems to be safe for now. Reports have also suggested that Daryl Morey isn’t on the chopping block either.
“The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a worse start than anyone in the organization could have imagined, but there are no internal discussions at this point regarding the job status of coach Nick Nurse or president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, multiple league sources told The Athletic.”
But many former NBA players and coaches believe that the 76ers’ current rut can only be attributed to one factor: Nurse’s apparent laid-back nature. Former 76ers’ guard Lou Williams called him out on it, stating his inability to coach hard is the driving factor behind Philly’s lack of competitive spirit.
“He coached me in Toronto… Nick Nurse would be what you consider a player’s coach. … That can get taken as soft or not coaching us hard enough when you’re going in and out of your way to try to please players. That’s who Nick Nurse is.”
Former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson also claimed that for the 76ers to reverse their fortunes, Nurse would have to step up and make some hard calls. On his podcast, Jackson claimed Nurse needed to hold his star player accountable.
“I gotta responsibility to lead this group and hold guys accountable. If Joel Embiid is not doing the things he’s supposed to be doing, showing up on time and being professional, I gotta hold him accountable the same way I would do everybody else… Across the board, they got issues they need to fix. And we have to address them one by one. But it starts with me as a leader of this franchise, as the HC controlling and dictating the culture to these 15 guys.”
While all seems hopeless for the Sixers at the moment, there are still 68 games left in the season. The Lakers also started their season with a 2-10 record in 2022-23 but ended up playing in the Western Conference. So, even though it feels like an end for the Sixers, there is still enough time to turn things around.
