Brett Brown gave Joel Embiid the benefit of the doubt Tuesday following the center's recent string of cryptic social media posts, though the Philadelphia 76ers head coach did concede the posts weren't ideal.
"It's Joel. Is it ideal? Maybe not," Brown said, according to The Athletic's Rich Hofmann. "Is it Joel? Yes. Is there a maverick in a lot of really, really good players? Yes."
The coach was being asked about Embiid's Monday Instagram post, in which the All-Star wrote, "you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Former 76ers teammate Jimmy Butler compounded matters with his reply to the post. "I know a place where villains are welcome," Butler said.
Embiid later tweeted a photo of himself playing in the Heat's home arena.
Butler decamped Philadelphia as a free agent last summer, and he's repeatedly alluded to an unspecified issue with the 76ers organization. Now, with Philadelphia in the midst of a 2-4 stretch, questions are surfacing about a potential fracture in the team's locker room.
Still, Brown steadfastly defended Embiid on Tuesday.
"If you were the security camera at our practice facility, you're going to see him there at 12 at night, 12:30 at night repetitively. Not so long ago we see his finger swinging on national TV and a few weeks later he comes back and has that (cast)," Brown said.
"Does he step out of bounds sometimes with this instance? It's not ideal, I concede that. Could he be better? We all could," he continued, adding that a "bit of fairness" should be extended to Embiid.
76ers general manager Elton Brand defended Brown last week, saying the coach has the authority to move players - such as Al Horford - to the bench amid the team's spacing concerns.
Prior to Tuesday's game against the Clippers, Brown announced Horford would come off the bench.