He’s no longer the City of Brotherly Love’s problem anymore. But the Philadelphia 76ers aren’t done talking about Ben Simmons. In fact, one of Simmons’ former teammates recently blasted the 26-year-old.
During an appearance on “The John Kincade Show” on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic, Georges Niang, a reserve forward, accused Simmons of kind of “handicapping” the team. Simmons was largely made a scapegoat in Philadelphia after an early exit in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. After a largely negative reaction, Simmons decided that he no longer wanted to be a part of the team. he cited mental health issues as his reasoning for sitting out the majority of the season. He was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the James Harden deal.
Simmons is now out of Brooklyn’s rotation, as he deals with knee soreness. Niang suggested that it wasn’t his business, but continued to go in on the former No. 1 overall pick.
“When you’re building a roster — I’m talking from a general manager standpoint — you take, I don’t know how much he makes, but it’s a max contract, you immediately take that off the books (because he says) ‘I’m not playing,’” Niang said. “Now you have to figure out where other role players have to step up and replace the passing, dribbling, rebounding, defense.”
Well Georges Niang did not hold back when he joined @975JKShow ! “Ben Simmons kinda handicapped us” 😤 pic.twitter.com/bLxDggtAa4
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) February 24, 2023
Niang’s biggest issue was not knowing who the 76ers would have readily available while Simmons remained sidelined.
“Is he coming back? Is he this? I feel like the updates that we were getting about him is when I turned on my TV and was listening to Stephen A Smith,” recalled Niang. “Last year was difficult because you didn’t know who you had.”
As Philadelphia makes its run at an NBA Finals appearance, it’ll do so with more stability. Still, the wounds that Ben Simmons left appear to cut deep. Even though the Sixers now have James Harden instead.
