The Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons era is coming to a close in Philadelphia, and it hasn’t exactly been pretty.
After years of disappointing play, things reached a climax in the 2021 playoffs, when Simmons’ shooting struggles contributed to the team’s second-round defeat against Atlanta.
And as the situation continues to deteriorate, people haven’t been shy about calling out those involved, including Ben’s co-star, Joel Embiid.
Here’s what Jay Williams had to say on ESPN’s KJZ:
“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 they 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 8.
I understand Ben Simmons didn’t play to the level we expected him to play. But yesterday he was 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 did, in fact, turn on his own teammate after Game 7, admitting to the media that Ben’s reluctance to shoot was the turning point of the match.
“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…
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.”
Since that moment, Embiid has expressed support for his teammate, telling folks that he doesn’t want him to get traded.
On the surface, the two certainly appear to have a solid relationship. But, behind the scenes, you just never really know what’s going on.
Regardless, he is not blameless in this whole saga, and it remains to be seen what the future holds in store for him when the Sixers do eventually trade their disgruntled young point guard.
