Joel Embiid has one simple question: Why me?
The star 76ers center has found himself in the middle of a maelstrom before the new NBA season even kicks off, with Knicks’ play-by-play announced Mike Breen reporting — and then walking back — that Embiid was chastised by LeBron James for being late to practice.
“Those type of things, I can’t understand,” Embiid told reporters after his preseason debut against the Nets on Thursday. “One, it is not true, but then again, it’s like, ‘Why me?’ … I guess I’m Joel Embiid. I’ve been in that situation. I don’t usually talk when it comes to those [rumors]. So, it feels like I’m an easy target.”
Breen, on the broadcast of the Knicks-76ers preseason game on Monday, recounted a story he was told of the 2023 NBA MVP showing up a “couple of minutes late” to practice and that James “let him hear it.”
James called the tale “lies,” and Breen apologized.
“I thought it would be an interesting anecdote to show LeBron’s leadership already on display in Philly,” the veteran broadcaster told ESPN. “For me, the fact that the teammate was Joel was meaningless. In hindsight, I should have realized the fact that it was Joel is what made it a story. I’ve always been a huge fan of Joel and feel awful that it put the focus on him the way that it did.”
It should be a telling season for Embiid, an endless target of media and fan scrutiny for his play and health issues. He now has offseason additions James and Jaylen Brown with him on the Philly roster alongside emerging star Tyrese Maxey with heightened championship expectations.
The 32-year-old might have some big names to help shoulder the load, but may never fully escape the criticism.
“It sucks, but what can you do? It’s unfortunate,” he said of Breen’s ill-fated anecdote. “I don’t know where that came from. It never happened. … I think we just got to focus on ourselves. There’s going to be a lot of outside noise to pull us apart from what we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to accomplish. So, it’s important that we stay together and we keep our [head] down.”
