From the beginning of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers have been a mainstay in the headlines. The credit for it goes to the drama caused by Ben Simmons and his request to get outside of the franchise.
However, even with the February trade deadline approaching soon, the two sides are at a stalemate. Simmons has been losing a lot of money as he is sidelined. In fact, it is reported that Simmons could lose up to $10 million in just fines.
Anyway, at the end of the day, the impact of Simmons being sidelined has ultimately affected the legacy of Joel Embiid. While Embiid is doing everything in his power to keep the 76ers stay afloat in the race to win the NBA Championship, there is only so much one player can do.
NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith has always been a huge voice in the matters of the 76ers. He did it once again in a recent video as he said that due to the ongoing drama in the franchise, it is wasting Embiid’s talent.
“I watched this man come to Philadelphia and in 2013 you hire some dude named Sam Hinkie and gonna announce to the city of Philadelphia ‘We’re gonna lose. On purpose for five years! We got a process plan in place.’ It involved Joel Embiid, it involved Ben Simmons. Did it involve trading away your assets to get Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler? Did it involve you losing out on Jimmy Butler to Miami? Did it involve Ben Simmons all of a sudden going AWOL on the team? By the way, did it involve Daryl Morey being handcuffed by ownership because there’s no way in hell! Anybody who knows Daryl Morey would look at him and say ‘Excuse me, he isn’t doing anything.’
Daryl Morey would pull the trigger on anything because he can’t stand guys that can’t shoot. So why would he like Ben Simmons? Please! This is Josh Harris holding on and telling Daryl Morey hold onto Ben Simmons for dear life or make sure you get this. I’m sorry. It’s a disaster and it reeks from the top down. Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, clean up your damn act! It’s an embarrassment and you are wasting away the greatness of Joel Embiid because he deserves better.”
It’s an embarrassment and you are wasting away the greatness of Joel Embiid! pic.twitter.com/ZirEkCBQpN
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 29, 2022
Smith didn’t hold back while berating the 76ers franchise for the way they have handled the Ben Simmons situation.
As things stand right now, it seems impossible to see the relationship between them get repaired. However, fans will hope that the situation is solved as soon as possible to prevent wasting Embiid’s talent.
