Sixers star Joel Embiid expresses disappointment on Ben Simmons situation
The Philadelphia 76ers have built their championship hopes on the foundation of a star duo in the form of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The former was selected as the No. 3 overall pick in 2014 while the latter was picked No. 1 overall in 2016 to form a partnership in Philadelphia.
Since the duo has come together, the Sixers have consistently been in the running for the Eastern Conference crown. They have had a ton of regular-season success together and they have reached Game 7 of Round 2 twice in the playoffs.
After falling in their most recent Game 7, Simmons has been the one taking the brunt of the blame for his poor playoff performance. Ever since the loss, there has been a ton of trade rumors and a big standoff between Simmons and the organization as the embattled star has expressed his desire to leave and he even denied his teammates’ attempt to fly out to Los Angeles to meet with him.
Simmons has reportedly been upset with some comments made by both Embiid and coach Doc Rivers following the loss in Round 2, but Embiid believes his quotes were taken out of context much like Rivers.
“I’m disappointed,” said Embiid on Monday at media day. “I’m disappointed that we’re in this situation. I don’t think it’s fair. Yeah, there’s stuff that could have happened either way. Whether it’s, I’m sure Coach has mentioned kind of putting in the context of what he was trying to say and what he was trying to communicate probably you guys said, maybe my comments has something to do with it which I don’t think it is because when you listen to the whole quote, it has nothing to do with calling anybody out.”
It’s clear that Embiid and Simmons have had a lot of success in the regular season. They have been a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference every year that they both have been healthy. The only time they did not finish in the top 3 in the East was 2020 when they slumped to the No. 6 seed after Simmons was injured.
The big problem has them struggling in the playoffs as they have not been able to get over the hump.
“I’m disappointed in the fact that we‘ve seen the results,” Embiid added. “We know how it is. We know how it looks. We win. We’re winners. It doesn’t matter if someone is averaging 40 points, it doesn’t matter if someone coming off the bench is averaging two points. I think at the end of the day, everybody wins. When you win a championship, everybody’s gonna get paid. So I think winning cures everything. So we’ve been able to do that in the regular season. I think it’s been time, and it’s time to take the next step.”
It’s clear that Embiid is not disappointed with Simmons. He is just disappointed that this situation has come to this point where it looks like it is at a point of no return. For Philadelphia to really compete for a title, they will need the 25-year old All-Star to figure everything out and try to reconcile things.
“I hope that he really changes his mind because if I didn’t like playing with him, I’m honest, I would say it, but I do love playing with him because he adds so much to our team,” the big fella added. “We’ve been building this thing around us. I don’t see it as like, this is my team, I don’t care. I don’t care about any of that, it has nothing to do with me. I’m not trying to live in a spotlight. I got my family, I’m private. That’s not me. I’m just trying to play basketball and have fun.”
Training camp begins on Tuesday and the Sixers know that Simmons will not be there. That is a tough pill to swallow for Embiid at the moment.
“I think I’m just disappointed that he’s not here, because he knows it too,” he finished. “He knows we can win together. I think we just all as a whole, I think a few of us have complained about the fans, as a whole we just need to just not care, and just play better. Just play our game. It doesn’t matter.”
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A list of full quotes from Sixers regarding Ben Simmons on media day
