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With all the reports surrounding Ben Simmons and his future with the Philadelphia 76ers, his teammate Joel Embiid has remained vocal throughout.
Embiid recently went on social media to call out reports claiming there was beef between him and his Sixers co-star.
“Sources “Trust me bro”!! Stop using my name to push people’s agendas. I love and hate drama. I love playing with Ben. Stats don’t lie. He’s an amazing player and we all didn’t get the job done. It’s on me personally. I hope everyone is back cuz we know we’re good enough to win”
But not everyone is buying what the Sixers big man is selling. ESPN analyst Jay Williams put Joel Embiid on blast for trying to act like there wasn’t truly a “rift” between him and Ben Simmons.
He went back to the Sixers’ playoff defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Joel Embiid’s remarks during press conferences after their Game 7 loss seemed to directly shade Ben Simmons, which Williams emphasized in his rant.
“What it seems like to me that even though he wants to make it seem like there is no rift between him and Ben Simmons, he threw Ben Simmons under the bus. After the Sixers lost that game. In game 4, they had an 18 point lead. In game 5 they had a 26 point lead and in Game 7, they had 17 turnovers, Joel Embiid had eight.”
“I understand Ben Simmons didn’t play to the level we expected him to play because he didn’t shoot the rock. There are big questions around Ben Simmons, but yesterday was [Embiid] a leader of the team that could go deep into the playoffs? Because that’s the count of accountability Joel Embiid needs to have.”
Joel Embiid pinpointed one very specific instance in the Sixers’ Game 7 loss that highlighted one of Ben Simmons’ most visible miscues in the postseason.
Full quote from Joel Embiid: "I mean, I'll be honest. I thought the turning point was when we — I don't know how to say it — but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and then they came down and scored…
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) June 21, 2021
"We didn't get a good possession on the other end and Trae came back and he made a 3 and then from there down four, it's on me. I turned the ball over and tried to make something happen from the perimeter. But I thought that was the turning point."
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) June 21, 2021
The Ben Simmons trade drama feels far from over. If he does end up staying with the Sixers, we’ll be able to see if Joel Embiid truly meant what he said.