It appears Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is all out of craps to give.
Responding to a report from The Athletic's Sam Amick about Ben Simmons not wanting to play with Embiid anymore and instead wanting to be the man elsewhere, Embiid launched into a long diatribe about the situation. In it, the Sixers star effectively blamed the presence of Simmons (so a jab at the front office as well) for losing Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat:
Embiid on Ben, partial: "Our teams have always been built around his needs. So it's just kind of surprising to see. Even going back to, the reason we signed Al, we got rid of Jimmy, which I still think was a mistake, just to make sure he needed the ball in his hands."
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) September 30, 2021
Full quote:https://t.co/zzjF2oJFBP
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) September 30, 2021
While Embiid acknowledges that this current version of the Sixers is better with Simmons on the floor, he sure seems to be at his wit's end with this whole situation. Also, reading these comments, it's pretty obvious that Embiid would prefer to have Butler on the team right now instead of Simmons. Embiid and Butler grew close during their short time together as teammates, and there were some rumblings about a Simmons-Butler beef.
While Embiid would have loved Butler to stick around, the latter wound up going to the Heat and making the NBA Finals in the bubble. The Sixers kept Simmons and also gave Tobias Harris a massive contract. Philly should have made the Eastern Conference Finals last season after getting the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but multiple collapses against the Atlanta Hawks ruined that bid.
Simmons was a huge part of those collapses thanks to his crunch-time disappearances (he's not the only one to blame), and now he wants a trade and is holding out until he gets one. The fit between Embiid and Simmons isn't perfect, but JoJo has always tried to shoot down rumors of beef between them. Now, though, the big man seems to be cracking. He has to be frustrated to have this hanging over training camp as the Sixers try to bounce back from their playoff disappointment.
These Embiid comments will surely only sharpen Simmons' resolve when it comes to a holdout. This is getting ugly.
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