Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has dismissed a report that he was scolded by LeBron James for arriving late to practice.
“It sucks, but what can you do? It’s unfortunate,” Embiid said after making his preseason debut in 76ers’ 114-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. “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.”
During the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ 120-97 win over the New York Knicks on Monday, longtime play-by-play announcer Mike Breen shared something on the MSG Networks broadcast. He told viewers what he had heard about how James reacted when Embiid did not make it onto the practice court on time.
“Somebody told me before the game that they were out ready to practice, and Joel Embiid walked out on the court a couple of minutes late, and LeBron let him hear it,” Breen said on the broadcast.
James also debunked the rumor on his Instagram account on Tuesday, and Breen offered an apology.
“Those type of things, I can’t understand,” Embiid said. “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.
“But yeah, as long as we know who we are [we will be OK] and we just got to stick together.”
Embiid had a rough night against the Nets. He scored just eight points on 1-for-5 shooting and added three rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. He also turned the ball over eight times.
“Obviously, it’s the preseason, especially for me,” Embiid said. “I got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. But [it was the] first game, my first few games usually every year [are like this]. So yeah, it’s going to take a few games to get going and just got to do a better job.”
