Joel Embiid did not sound like a man fighting for his Philadelphia 76ers future. He sounded like a man who has already started letting go.
In the wake of Philadelphia's first-round sweep by the New York Knicks - a series in which Knicks fans bought up Wells Fargo Center seats in such numbers that the building turned blue and orange - the former MVP delivered a postgame answer on his season that has set off a much bigger conversation about who is actually running the franchise.
"I know we lost, and I know that's not the right mentality to have, but for me, this was a success," Embiid said. "We came into this season thinking that there was not much left, based on the last two years. And now I'm sitting here not even worrying about my knee. I feel like I still played as hard as I could. I fought hard. I tried to give us a better chance to win. I don't know who's going to be here. I don't even know if I'm going to be here. But whatever happens happens. I'm excited about really getting back to myself."
That last sentence — 'I don't even know if I'm going to be here' — is what First Take spent most of its show unpacking. Kendrick Perkins said the time has come for Philadelphia and Embiid to part.
"This relationship has run its course," Perkins said. "It's time for both parties to separate. I think it would be in the best interest for the organisation and it would also be in the best interest for Joel Embiid. I believe Joel Embiid needs a change of scenery. I believe Joel Embiid needs a breath of fresh air to go to another place and play, to be under another organisation, to be under different leadership. At this point in time, listening to his postgame interview, I think he believes that the time has passed for him being one of those guys, a franchise guy, to help this organisation get to where they're trying to go."
But Perkins also conceded the math is brutal. Embiid is about to start a three-year, $193 million extension that pays him roughly $64 million a year. Paul George is owed $54.1 million and $56.6 million over the next two seasons. Tyrese Maxey, BJ Edgecombe and head coach Nick Nurse, Perkins said, are the only untouchables.
"It's time for Daryl Morey to go," Perkins said. "Bob Myers just left our network. He's basically overseeing a lot of what's going on with the 76ers... You're probably going to have to tie a first-round pick to each one of those guys in order to trade them for a team to take them on."
Stephen A. Smith took it further, building his case off Knicks fan Josh Hart's pointed jab at Philly's home crowd.
"It felt louder here for them than it did in the Garden," Hart said. "It's, I used to think Philly was a sports town. I don't know if it is anymore."
Stephen A. defended the city - 'the Flyers lost in a sweep too, the Eagles came off a real down year, the Phillies just fired their manager, Philadelphia sports is in a little bit of hurt right now' - but said the silence inside Wells Fargo Center was an indictment of the front office, not the fan base.
"This is an indictment against the Sixers organisation because you don't really have much to believe in," Stephen A. said. "You've got Tyrese Maxey, who's an absolute stud, and BJ Edgecombe - that young backcourt is something to be excited about. But the figurative face of the franchise is a guy in Joel Embiid who has played 40 games or less the last three years. He's missed almost 50 percent of his games. He's almost never there."
Stephen A. then made the case that the franchise has wasted years of draft and development assets - Julian Champagnie, Matt McClung, Jared McCain, Isaiah Joe - all currently contributing to playoff teams in San Antonio and Oklahoma City while the 76ers cannot find a bench.
His biggest call was at the top.
"As much as it pains me to say it, Perk is right - Daryl Morey has to go," Stephen A. said. "But that is not the biggest reason. The biggest reason is Philadelphia, the city of Philadelphia, has lost faith in this franchise. It doesn't believe in it. It doesn't respect it. It tries to support it, but it doesn't respect it."
He then addressed owner Josh Harris directly.
"You are a four-time champion executive," Stephen A. said of Bob Myers, the former Warriors GM now part of Harris's portfolio. "As Austin Rivers said the other day, a Hall of Fame executive, and somebody else is making the basketball decisions. Make it make sense. Philadelphia don't go for that... If the 76ers stand pat and they keep things status quo and just come back with this same bunch next year, it's going to be a problem. Bob Myers needs to take over this franchise. Plain and simple."
