Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is currently on a media tour to promote his new docuseries podcast as training camp approaches. Earlier this week, the Sixers coach made waves when he went on ESPN's First Take and tried to do damage control on the Ben Simmons trade situation by claiming the team wants him back and that his criticism after Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks wasn't what it seemed.
Rivers continued his media tour with a guest spot on MSNBC's Morning Joe this week, and he had some, um, rather interesting comments on this Simmons saga and the attempt to get him to show up to training camp. No doubt because of the audience, he brought a political reference into it.
Via Brandon Contes of Mediaite:
“There’s times that I think we’re getting through,” Rivers acknowledged. “And there’s times that I think that I’m talking to people who still believe Trump won the election. So I’m not sure, but I’m going to keep trying.”
Something tells me that comparing Simmons and his camp to Donald Trump election conspiracy theorists isn't the best way to get the three-time All-Star to show up to training camp. Again, Rivers was certainly playing to the MSNBC audience with the Trump reference, but there's no way Simmons will be happy to hear this.
Simmons has no plans of reporting to training camp and doesn't want to play for the Sixers again. Philly allegedly wants to change his mind, but that ship has almost certainly sailed at this point. This has gone too far for him to come back now and make it seem like everything is okay, so there will be a trade at some point. It's just a matter of when, where and if the Sixers are able to get back close to what they want for him.
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