Marcus Morris’ time spent with the Philadelphia 76ers was short-lived. Although he wasn’t playing for his hometown’s team for long, Morris seems to have had an overall negative experience with the organization.
Back in March, Morris made it clear he wasn’t Daryl Morey’s biggest fan. The veteran forward went on a lengthy rant to expose his negative feelings toward the President of Basketball Operations.
To sum up Morris’ rant on Morey, the veteran forward accused the President of Basketball Ops of not knowing how to properly construct a roster. Since Morey’s been recognized as one of the more innovative executives of this era, becoming a face of the league’s polarizing analytics conversation, Morris stated that Morey “thinks too far ahead of the way basketball needs to be played.”
Months later, Morris revealed that it wasn’t just Morey’s performance that bothered the veteran forward during his Philly stint. Morris recently sounded off on Nick Nurse’s coaching during a livestream.
“When we were playing with Nick Nurse in Philly when Embiid went out, we had nothing after that, bro,” said Morris. “His offense was nothing. We was going on the fly—just making [expletive] up. Me and Pat [Beverley], he’s out there like, ‘Go here, just go stand right there, that’s how we’re going to carry it.’ That’s a lack of coaching.”
During the 2023-2024 NBA season, the Sixers entered the year with Patrick Beverley on board as a free-agent signing. In October, the team acquired Morris and a handful of players from the Los Angeles Clippers via trade.
Morris appeared in 37 games for the Sixers, averaging 17 minutes of action. The veteran posted averages of seven points on 40 percent shooting from three, along with three rebounds. Ahead of the trade deadline, the Sixers traded Morris to the San Antonio Spurs. He was waived before signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency.
The Nick Nurse era in Philly has been off to a rough start. While the Sixers started hot two seasons ago, an injury to Joel Embiid caused him to miss multiple months of action. The Sixers went from a top team in the Eastern Conference to making the NBA Play-In Tournament.
No matter who the coach is in Philly, the current roster will only truly be as good as the former MVP center, as the Sixers are constructed to feature a heavy dose of Embiid when he’s healthy. Morris clearly expected better adjustments out of Nurse—and Beverley seemed to agree.
Since joining the Sixers, Nurse has achieved a 71-93 record. The Sixers made the playoffs once, losing in round one for the first time since 2020. This year, Philadelphia missed the playoffs altogether for the first time since 2017. While there is plenty of blame to go around the Sixers’ organization, Nurse certainly isn’t mistake-free. Year three will be critical for the head coach as the Sixers look to bounce back.
