"I'm not here to babysit. At this point, I don't care about that man" - Joel Embiid makes his feelings clear about Ben Simmons ahead of 2021-22 NBA season opening night
The growing feud between the Philadelphia 76ers and disgruntled star Ben Simmons has continued to take the spotlight in the NBA world. It seems as if each week there's a new chapter installed, as the beef between the two parties continues to get uglier. Today gave us another installment of the drama, as Ben Simmons was thrown out of practice by head coach Doc Rivers.
Simmons was tossed early in practice, essentially for a refusal to participate in the next stage of the session, sources tell ESPN. twitter.com/timbontemps/st…
It was originally announced that Ben Simmons had been suspended one game by the team for "detrimental conduct." Since then, details have leaked that went into depth about how Simmons was refusing to participate in certain drills during practice.
As if things hadn't gotten ugly enough, superstar big man Joel Embiid didn't hold back in the media after practice concluded. Embiid said:
"At this point I don't care about that man honestly. He does whatever he wants..."
Joel Embiid: “At this point I don’t care about that man.”
https://t.co/ATmtrXpBJG
Joel Embiid didn't stop there, as he continued to double down with his disappointment in the mentality that Ben Simmons has shown during his return to the Sixers.
"But at the end of the day, our job is not to babysit somebody...we get paid to produce on the court, play hard, win some games. We don't get paid to come out here and babysit somebody."
“Our job is not to babysit somebody.”
https://t.co/XNQ3RVaD8t
After Ben Simmons was determined to force a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, he made an unexpected return to the Sixers, showing up to the arena unannounced.
Since returning to the team, Simmons has reportedly looked uninterested in practices. Head coach Doc Rivers has even made an effort to state that the team would welcome Simmons with open arms, but it seems as if this is quickly making a turn for the worse. As highlighted by ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Rivers was simply not going to allow Simmons to become a distraction for the team during practice today.
Doc Rivers: “I thought he was a distraction today. I didn’t think he wanted to do what everyone else was doing.”
Will the Sixers be looking to trade for Ben Simmons?
After spending the majority of the offseason away from the team, it was going to be a bit of a surprise if Simmons was quickly thrown into game action. The reality is that his conditioning was most likely not going to be at its peak to be ready for an extended amount of playing time.
But the latest report today suggests that things are going to get ugly in a hurry. We saw a similar situation last year when the James Harden situation got ugly with the Rockets, which quickly resulted in a trade progressing rapidly. It's going to be interesting to see the direction that the team is going in moving forward.
Do they still trust Ben Simmons enough to give his best effort to the team with his play on the court? Or will the Sixers quickly scramble to make a trade happen and move on from this situation? For a front office that has stood its ground throughout the offseason, it might finally be time to fold the cards and send Simmons on his way.
Also Read: What is Simmons’ Current Contract?