Things are rough right now in Philly. The 76ers find themselves in dead last in the Eastern Conference at 2-12 after a loss to the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies on Wednesday night and now there could be trust issues in the locker room.
Yes, franchise player Joel Embiid is NONE TOO PLEASED about reported details from a recent team meeting leaked that put him in a negative light.
Dan pointed out on Thursday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz that Embiid feels betrayed that what Embiid would classify as a 30-second conversation with Tyrese Maxey was instead portrayed as the younger 76ers star calling out the franchise center.
“The part that he’s angry about is not Maxey calling him out, it’s that it leaked,” Dan says.
These are communities that thrive on an us vs. them mentality and when stuff gets out of the locker room it leads to quotes like the one above where Embiid takes great umbridge with whoever is leaking information to the media. And let’s face it, Dan is 100 percent right — it’s bad when someone calls you a piece of sh*t, but when someone calls you a REAL piece of sh*t? Oooh, boy, they’re EXTRA angry. Dan thinks the Philly locker room is in a distrustful place and Embiid seems like the kind of superstar that if you do not properly appreciate him, he could decide to take his talents someplace that will.
Amin says it all seems like an escalation of things that have been happening since the summer and he feels for Embiid on this and is actually with him. Amin does wear two hats — one is in the media, on shows like Dan’s and Oddball, where situations like this give us something to talk about. But on the other hand, putting on his hat of being a basketball guy, it DISGUSTS him that the players could barely get out of the room before they started leaking. It bothers Amin so much that he admits that he would round up everyone into a room and demand phones to be taken out to determine once and for all who broke the locker room code. The team is trying to fix their internal issues and someone thinks THIS was the best way to handle things? Teams like the 76ers only work, Amin says, if the whole team believes they are together. If someone goes running their mouth the media, Amin says it all falls apart.
Make sure you tune into The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network!
SHOW BREAKDOWN
Local Hour: I’m Fonda Sports
Today’s cast: Dan, Stugotz, Amin, Chris, Jeremy, Jessica, Roy, and Tony. On today’s shadow show: would you rather take the kick from Jon Jones that he delivered over the weekend or tackle Derrick Henry? And Stugotz delivers his Top 5 People In Sports With What Their Names Would Be If They Were Penises. Then, as the show starts, the crew discusses Give Miami Day, Denzel Washington admitting to both alcoholism and dabbling with heroin, and Dan’s feelings after watching a Ted Turner Documentary. Does Dan know Turner is alive? Plus, Roy and Chris each had some horrible flubs while doing ad reads, and the rest of the crew wants to enjoy them for the rest of time.
The Big Suey: The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Bring Your Sweaters, bring a smile, and bring a big appetite to tonight’s Miller Lite Watch Party at Flanigan’s in North Miami Beach and come hang out with the crew! David Samson is here as the crew debates the merits of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Then, Stugotz may have a New York Times Best Seller on his hands, David is unsurprised by Woody Johnson meddling, Amin and David break down the NBA media 3-team trade for Inside the NBA, and David tells us about his wild night out with Chris Cote at the O.A.R. concert.
Hour 1: A Real Piece of ****
We take a peek Behind the bit on Benny From Fort Lauderdale, one of the original callers of our show. Then, what is the best Christmas Carol and why is it the Mi Burrito Sabanero (Big Booty Bass Remix) by DJ Laz? Plus, there are multiple locker room stories worth diving into. Dan and Amin lead the crew’s conversations about the Giants’ reaction to the benching of Daniel Jones and Joel Embiid calling whoever leaked news about their team meeting “a real piece of shit.”
Hour 2: Jolly Old Saint Dick
Tony kicks things off with a Thursday ThUNDER put together by Mike Ryan. Then, Jessica’s insubordination leads to Dan taking everyone’s phones, Amin gets reckless about Jay Leno’s injuries (again), and Dan and the reports of an ESPN staple, Around the Horn, coming to an end and celebrate what the show did for the sports media landscape. Plus, Mina Kimes is here, and before we get to football, we need to examine a photo of Willow with Santa Claus that includes a rather unfortunate angle of…well…Santa’s balls. Once we’re done with Mina’s vivid description, she delivers analysis on the Ravens, Steelers, 49ers, Bengals, Cowboys, Chiefs, Simpsons, Texans, Packers, Chargers, and ‘Tommy DeVito, I guess.’
Gen CFB: No One Believes in the Dawgs
Jessica Smetana and Lucy Rohden are back with a new episode of Gen CFB. They react to another Kirby Smart rant criticizing the “doubters”, BYU finally losing, Oregon surviving a close game with Wisconsin and much more before previewing the upcoming week of games.
VIDEO
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