On Tuesday, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was asked about a report from The Athletic's Bill Oram and Joe Vardon, which asserts that the All-Star center opposed the hiring of Tyronn Lue during the Sixers' recent head coaching search.

The article, which chronicles how Lue ended up as the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, notes that the Sixers were among four teams — along with the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Houston Rockets — that expressed interest in pursuing Lue in the late summer.

After the Nets surprisingly hired Steve Nash, Lue interviewed with Philadelphia on Sept. 29. However, Embiid may have voiced his opposition to Lue due to his connections to Ben Simmons via Klutch Sports:

Lue had an ally in the Sixers’ search — super agent Rich Paul, who represents James (hence his ties to Lue) and Philadelphia star Ben Simmons. But sources across the NBA said the Sixers’ other star, Joel Embiid, ultimately opposed Lue as coach for X’s and O’s reasons and for the optics of Simmons’ ‘guy' getting the job.

Embiid vaguely dismissed the report when speaking to the media on Tuesday, though he stopped short of fully denying the specific allegations:

“You got to control what you can at times, ” he said, via Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. “I don't really know, I just try to come in every single day and do my job. And these guys have … put a lot of trust in me to make it happen … I'm not a GM, I'm not in the front office so that has nothing to do with me.”

After Doc Rivers unexpectedly parted ways with the Clippers, the Sixers hired Rivers in early October, and Lue was elevated to the top position on LA's bench shortly after. Embiid finished his comments with a familiar refrain:

“I've always told them that they got to do whatever is best for the team, so if they thought Doc was the right coach for us then I trust them … we had a lot of great candidates. … Ty, he's won a championship. … reports are going to be reports, so I can only control what I can,” Embiid said.

You can read Embiid's full response here:

Rivers will make his Philadelphia coaching debut on Wednesday, when the Sixers host the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET).

Lue and the Clippers open their season on Tuesday night at Staples Center, in a “road” matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers.