For Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s been a rough season.
Their underperformance has birthed questions about the future of certain players, both stars included. But it’s what is going on behind the scenes that are most concerning.
Reports of friction between Embiid and Simmons have the community believing there is a gap between the friendship of the pair. It’s gotten pretty bad. But in the midst of the doubts and rumors, Simmons did his best to weather the storm and reassure the public that he and Embiid were fine.
“It takes time,” Simmons said, via ESPN. “Not everything is perfect. Not everything works right away. I love playing with Joel. I think he’s an amazing talent, a guy I respect for his game, and I know he feels the same way about me. We continue to go the right way. There’s so many different things that we haven’t tried. We’ve got a lot of talent. It’s scary how good we can be.”
To their credit, it’s not like we won’t be seeing Philly in the postseason this year. Though they might not have homecourt advantage, nobody should count them out of making the NBA Finals this spring.
Plus, at 23 and 25-years-old, there are very few who have been able to play at such a high level so early in their careers.
So, as the community thinks back on the Sixers and their chances to win this postseason (and in ones in the years to come), we should resist the urge to give up on them — because they certainly haven’t given up on each other.
