With the Ben Simmons saga raging on, Joel Embiid found himself reflecting once more on where it went all wrong.
After last season’s collapse in the Eastern Conference playoffs, Embiid and head coach Doc Rivers called out Simmons for showing a lack of confidence on the offensive end. Now, after playing without Simmons for the entire season so far, Embiid is calling him out again for refusing to take accountability.
“I really don’t wanna be responsible for choosing whatever has to be done,” Embiid said. “Everybody’s at fault. But at the end of the day, you’ve gotta look at yourself. Just like when we lost, I looked at myself. I knew I wasn’t good enough. I knew I wasn’t healthy enough and I knew I wasn’t good enough. At the end of the day, you’ve gotta have some self-awareness.”
https://twitter.com/btoporek/status/1490795227111727105
While Embiid did call Simmons out, he also cast some blame on himself as well and pledged to be better moving forward. Simmons, meanwhile, seemed to take the criticism as a personal attack. He requested a trade that summer and has not played a game for Philly since.
It’s a messy situation all around, and even Embiid has no problem agreeing that his soon-to-be ex-teammate probably did not handle it well.
https://twitter.com/btoporek/status/1490796335779487745
Whatever the case, the relationship between the Sixers and Ben Simmons has already reached its breaking point. As Simmons and his camp stand firm in their quest to never play for the team again, Daryl Morey is determined not to trade him unless the Sixers get a lucrative haul in return.
At this point, with both sides locked into a stalemate, this saga might not end until well into the offseason.
In the meantime, Joel Embiid is going to have to make do with the guys he still has. So far, it has worked out well. The Sixers are 32-21 and headed for another run in the playoffs.
With or without Simmons, the 76ers are going to be just fine.
