Inside the Players-Only Meeting That Shifted the 76ers’ Season Forever

There’s a fresh buzz around the Philadelphia 76ers this preseason, and it’s a welcome change from the turmoil that clouded their last campaign. Yes, the big question marks — Joel Embiid and Paul George sidelined post-surgery, and Jered McCain nursing that thumb injury — linger with no clear return dates in sight. But the unmistakable air? It’s lighter, less tense, a team quietly plotting a rebound away from the crushing weight of expectations. Contrast that stormy backdrop with last year’s chaos, where frustration over Embiid’s inconsistent availability and a leaked players-only meeting fractured locker room trust, and you start to appreciate just how far Philly wants to go to rewrite its narrative. With a promising backcourt lineup stirring hope and a down Eastern Conference in their sights, the Sixers are eager to reignite the chemistry that last season so cruelly disrupted. Will the positive vibes hold when the grind kicks in? That’s the million-dollar question as training camp unfolds. LEARN MORE

By all accounts, the vibes are good heading into this season with the Philadelphia 76ers. Sure, there are questions — Joel Embiid and Paul George remain out with uncertain timelines after offseason surgeries, and Jered McCain is out for a few more weeks with a torn thumb ligament — but the feeling around a team without high external expectations is good.

That’s very different than last season.

In a story discussing how the vibes went south so fast in Philly last season, Yaron Weitzman of The Ringer says that there were frustrations with Joel Embiid and his vague injury timetables — players and coaches were unsure whether the star would play night-to-night, and he only played 19 games — but things got much worse after details of a player’s only meeting in November went public.

“The organization was built around one guy who doesn’t trust anyone and mostly keeps to himself,” one former Sixers staffer said. When Embiid appeared in just 19 games last season, that isolation created organizational chaos …

Tension escalated after a November players-only meeting was leaked to ESPN’s Shams Charania, with grievances directed at Embiid becoming public. The breach damaged locker room trust and appeared to affect Embiid most significantly.

“People left that night feeling like they had turned a corner. Everyone promised to keep the details in-house. And then they wake up and all the details are out,” a person close to a player said.

“It all created an environment of dysfunction,” said an associate of a Sixers player.

Maybe a player talked to Charania. Maybe a player detailed the meeting to his agent, who spoke to Charania. However it happened, nobody seems to be disputing the details of the report, but rather that it got out. It led to even more distrust with Embiid and his camp.

Philadelphia is looking to put that behind them, get the vibes right and their stars on the court with a young and promising backcourt — Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, McCain and Quentin Grimes — and make a playoff push in a down Eastern Conference. It’s training camp, but so far the vibes are still good.

We’ll see how those vibes hold up when the inevitable struggles that come to every team hit the Sixers this season. Hopefully it goes better than last season.