Philadelphia 76ers superstars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons recently sat down with Shams Charania of The Athletic, as they discussed the bitter end to the Sixers' 2018-19 campaign.

For those who may have forgotten, it was eventual Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and his Toronto Raptors that ended the dream of the Sixers following his unforgettable game-winning basket in Game 7 of the tightly-contested series. This was indeed a tough pill to swallow for the entire Sixers organization, and both Embiid and Simmons opened up about the type of effect this had on them personally.

“That was tough. Especially also because we knew we had a chance to make it very far,
admitted Embiid. “We had a chance to win it all. To know that your season ended like that was hard, but then again it was like, ‘I'll come back next year even better.'”

Article Continues Below
More Philadelphia 76ers News
Philadelphia 76ers guard Eric Gordon (23) drives against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) in the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center.
76ers’ 2 important contract decisions amid free agency crunchMalik Brown ·
Featured image Kelly Oubre Jr
76ers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. makes $8.4 million contract decision ahead of free agencyDylan Fine ·
76ers' Guerschon Yabusele surrounded by money
Ascending Western Conference squad named Guerschon Yabusele suitorAbdullah Imran ·
VJ Edgecombe and Johni Broome on the 76ers court
Philadelphia 76ers 2025 NBA Draft grades for every pickMatty Breisch ·
Philadelphia 76ers forward Justin Edwards (19) shoots the ball against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center.
76ers sign breakout bench piece to 3-year contract extensionAbdullah Imran ·
Baylor Bears guard VJ Edgecombe (7) drives to the basket around Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Kevin Overton (1) during the second half at T-Mobile Center.
VJ Edgecombe gets touching gesture from 76ers Daryl MoreyMatty Breisch ·

For his part, Simmons was completely on the same page with his Philadelphia teammate, as he also pointed out how this turned out to be a valuable learning experience for the entire team.

“Same for me,” agreed Simmons. “Obviously it was an amazing shot. A lot of things ran through my head, mostly at the start. But the first thing that really came to me was we gotta get better. But we're so young. We have a great opportunity in front of us. We learned from that situation, and I promise you if we had that same situation again, it wouldn't have gone the same way. But that's how you learn and grow. So hopefully, that situation that happened with us helps us get better for certain different situations in the future.”

The fact that these two stars are able to openly discuss what they went through following such a traumatic experience just proves that they have indeed moved on from the incident. More importantly, it appears that they have learned from the same, and have become better individuals.

At the end of the day, things like this are just part of the game, and what matters most is how one is able to emerge from such challenges.