Joel Embiid might go scorched-earth on 76ers locker room after negative leak

The Philadelphia 76ers are 2-12, in sole possession of the worst record in the NBA. We're almost a fifth of the way through the season, so while it is early, it's not that early. There is justified panic building in the Sixers fandom, especially with the recent injury to Paul George.

It has been tough break after tough break to begin the season. The Sixers are falling apart at the seams as a result. There is time to turn this ship around, but it would take a concerted effort from Philadelphia's core, which feels improbable at this point. Joel Embiid has only appeared in four games to date, but he has been at the center of a million controversies. The focus just isn't in the right place with this team.

It all came to a head after Monday's loss to the Miami Heat, which prompted Kyle Lowry to call a players and coaches meeting in the visiting locker room. Several grievances were aired out, including a bold challenge from Tyrese Maxey, who asked Embiid to be more punctual with his attendance of team activities and practices.

Embiid reportedly took the criticism well, but his subsequent interactions with the media paint a more troubling portrait.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy.

Joel Embiid seems extremely upset with how recent locker room leak portrays him

The 7-footer took accountability and vowed to be "perfect" moving forward, but Embiid also bemoaned his unfair treatment in the media.

"We talked about a lot of things [during the meeting],” Embiid told reporters (h/t The Philadelphia Inquirer). “I don’t want to get into the details, but that whole thing [with Maxey] probably took 30 seconds. But then again, it’s Joel Embiid, so we’ve got to make everything blown out of proportion."

Which, sure dude, the media can have it out for Embiid at times. But when you're showing up late to practice and negating leadership duties for a 2-12 team, that merits conversation. Maybe it took 30 seconds, but acting as though it's not a major storyline is willful ignorance. Embiid has never been the most natural leader of men, but he needs to be around the team and engaged during this period of turmoil. He has to lead them out of the woods and into the light.

He told reporters the tardiness happened "maybe once or twice," which seems like a blatant lie based on all other evidence. Then, perhaps most notably of all, Embiid took direct aim at the locker room snitch. From Jake Fischer of The Stein Line:

"When ESPN reported details on Tuesday morning, from inside the 76ers' team meeting following Monday night's blown lead in Miami, one league figure close to Philadelphia's All-Star center told me: ‘Joel is going to be furious.’ And that Embiid was going to try and find the Sixers’ supposed snitch."

There are betting odds for which Sixers player will be revealed as the alleged snitch. So, it's not great. That is not where the focus needs to be. Embiid has the power to focus on the issues at hand — his performance and the team's connectedness — but instead he's waging war at the unnamed person who unveiled his poor attendance to the world.

"Whoever leaked that is a real piece of s**t," Embiid said.

Rather than stoking more discord in the locker room by trying to get to the bottom of this mystery, perhaps Embiid should simply keep his thoughts private, project an air of confidence in his teammates, and step up on the court. A win streak would help everyone forget this whole ordeal.