"We had a chance to win together" - Joel Embiid opens up on Ben Simmons' fallout with Philadelphia 76ers, mentions he never told him to "get out of there"
NBA and Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid recently opened up about the fiasco with Ben Simmons, which has been the main topic of conversation for months.
Speaking to Draymond Green on The Draymond Green Show, the 76ers superstar spoke about his inability to understand why the whole situation played out the way it did. Embiid said:
"I never said to get him out of there, I just didn't understand what was going on. Honestly, like, I didn't understand like, why it happened? And you know what led to the whole situation to this day. I don't understand. I mean, even you know, when you look and I don't have any problems with him, obviously we didn't win a championship together."
Embiid continued:
"But you know, in the regular season we were dominant every single season. I always believed that, we had a chance to win together. I've always believed that even to this day i believed that we had a chance to win. And, you know, what we were able to accomplish obviously, winning matters the most, but I felt like we had a chance and that's why I don't understand, you know, what was going on to see what cause you know, him to want to leave, understand, you know, his explanation but you know, a lot of things don't make sense."
The fiasco finally came to a conclusion when the 76ers traded Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden and had to package Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks.
Why didn't it work out for Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid at the Philadelphia 76ers?
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, two players who were supposed to be the cornerstone of the Sixers franchise for years to come and bring in multiple championships to Philly. After years of tanking to get a high draft pick, the Sixers managed to put together a team around Simmons and Embiid.
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid won 35 of 42 games played together last season, the best record by any duo.
The second-best duo was Kyrie Irving and James Harden, but neither duo will be in action Friday.
Nets at 76ers, 7:30 ET on ESPN https://t.co/nfThxT8BPT
However, things did not go according to plan, as Simmons' lack of shooting and the unreliability over Joel Embiid in terms of his health meant that the Sixers did not manage a single appearance in the NBA Finals, let alone win a championship.
It is almost impossible for both to coexist on the floor as long as Simmons continues to not attempt jumpshots as you have to surround him with shooters while he plays as the center.
The two are defensive stalwarts and are always in the conversation of being the best defensive player in the league, but offensively they are far too easy to matchup against.
"Stats don’t lie"
The Sixers record, including playoffs:
.675 — Embiid & Simmons together
.490 — One plays without the other twitter.com/JoelEmbiid/sta… https://t.co/sM0IQr3K84
The series against the Atlanta Hawks was the final nail in the coffin for Ben Simmons, and his tenure with the Sixers ended on a sour note. The Australian superstar blaming the franchise for causing mental health issues, while the Sixers were keen on moving on from Ben as his development has stalled over the years.