The storyline across the NBA over the last couple of days has been Ben Simmons. But, not for the right reasons. The Sixers were shocked by the Hawks in seven games and many people are blaming it solely on the Aussie's lack of production.

Well, Dwight Howard has once again come to his teammate's defense like he's done many times before, via Dime:

Howard made it clear that fans and analysts should be blaming the Sixers as a whole, not the 24-year-old Simmons. After getting slammed basically all season long for his inability to shoot the ball, the Philly guard was put on blast even more in the playoffs because of his 34% clip from the free-throw line. That was the worst percentage of any player from the charity stripe in NBA postseason history.

It's expected the Sixers will likely trade Ben Simmons this offseason, but he is taking it upon himself to skip the Olympics with Australia in order to work on his game. The former LSU standout is even exploring the change of shooting hands from left to right.

While he hasn't really lived up to expectations as a championship-caliber point guard, Simmons still does a lot of other things right on the court. He's physical on the boards, knows how to facilitate, and he's a fantastic defender.

Whether he remains in a Sixers uniform is unclear at this point, but some drastic improvements will need to be made in his game.