Ben Simmons is one of the most talented players in the league. He can guard one through five and is one of the best playmakers in the world.
Then again, that doesn’t mean he’s valuable as a trade asset right now, and that’s all because of how obvious he and the Philadelphia 76ers have been regarding their mutual desire to move on from each other.
Nonetheless, there weren’t many discussions about the reasons why Simmons decided to leave in the first place. Until now.
Recently, Sixers insider Keith Pompei revealed that Simmons is still upset about Doc Rivers’ controversial remarks after their Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks:
“There are teams that are interested in Ben Simmons, they just don’t want to pay the steep price,” Sixers writer Keith Pompei said on 97.5 The Fanatic, as quoted by FanNation. “Ben Simmons knows that, so they are saying why should we help the 76ers out when they feel like when Doc Rivers said what he said, nobody apologized, and Doc was never reprimanded. Ben is upset, he feels like Doc threw him under the bus when Doc was asked if he was a starting championship PG and he said I don’t know.”
When asked about whether Ben Simmons could be the starting point guard of a championship team, Rivers simply replied: “I don’t know the answer to that right now.”
Since then, the former Clippers coach backpedaled from his comments, but it seems like it’s just too little, too late:
“Ben’s great,” Rivers said several weeks ago. “I want him back. He’s terrific. He’ll be great. I think he doesn’t need a lot of fixing. He’s gonna be great for us. He’ll be great.”
Simmons has every right to be upset after his coach threw him under the bus. And the Sixers have every right to call him out for not stepping up when they needed him the most.
But, for now, this story is just moving sideways.
