Ben Simmons is back with the Philadelphia 76ers. But the All-Star has yet to take the court and probably won't for the foreseeable future.
He may be back in town, but that hasn't shielded him from criticism. Far from it, actually. Charles Barkley, a former Sixers top draft pick himself, spoke out on the Ben Simmons trade saga.
The Hall of Famer was brutally honest on his assessment, claiming he doesn't understand the stance Simmons has taken amid all the criticism from Sixers fans and poor postseason play.
Via Scott Bordow of Compare.Bet:
“If he came out sometime and said, ‘I apologize for not playing better, the criticisms are fair and I’m going to do everything in my power to be a great basketball player,’ I think Philadelphia would have forgiven him,” Barkley said.
“I don’t know why Ben got mad at that sh–, to be honest with you. Listen, I’m not one of those old guys who feel like I didn’t make any money and I hate on these young guys making all this money. But I thought if you’re making $40 million a year (Simmons actually signed a five-year, $170 million contract extension in 2019) and people are telling you to get better in basketball, you should get better in basketball.”
Barkley also stated that this would not be an incident that the NBA and its owners would take sitting down. Ben Simmons' holdout would be subject to intense scrutiny during the next collective bargaining agreement negotiations, as the league would look to implement safeguards against players going rogue like this.
The Ben Simmons saga doesn't seem to have a conclusion coming anytime soon. The aftermath of which will extend far beyond what goes down between him and the Sixers organization.
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