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There is no shortage of gossip about how this group will spread and how all the different egos and personalities will follow inward into the courtroom. Everyone wants a peek behind the curtain of how this new experiment is going, and on MSG’s broadcast of Monday night’s preseason opener between the Knicks and Sixers, Mike Breen, New York’s long-time play announcer, offered what he thought was an innocuous example of James Duke already in place.
“Somebody told me before the game that they were getting ready to practice, and Joel Embiid walked on the court two minutes late, and LeBron was listening,” Breen said on the air.
What Breen ignored at the moment is that Embiid, who reported the story of slowness, when another player made a viral story, and finally James took to Instagram to deny that happened, Embiid “it’s not too late to stop lying.”
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Whether or not Breen’s anecdotes told and repeated on the air are true or not, James knows how sensitive the situation is now and would like to avoid any questions about Embiid’s professionalism in the game from becoming an issue before the season even begins.
Breen spoke with ESPN to apologize for starting the entire news cycle with his comments, and noted that while he was informed by someone he trusts, if James says it didn’t happen, he believes him.
“I don’t know why the person who told me the story would do it, but LeBron says it never happened then I believe him and apologize for what happened there,” said Breen.
He also felt bad about not recognizing that by simply telling Embiid, the story would get legs and become much bigger than the announcer trying to fill the time and information gaps in the preseason broadcast.
“To me, Joel was an empty teammate. In hindsight, I realized that what happened was that Joel made the story,” Breen said. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Joel and I feel terrible that the focus has been put on him the way he’s done it.”
That just one preseason game for this kind of silly controversy to arise is a precursor to what’s to come all year for the Sixers. The good, the bad and the mundane will all be amplified, and while all parties involved seem ready to sweep this story, there will be more to come.