Ben Simmons trade news: Sixers legend deals Aussie NBA star brutal $285m reality check
One of Philadelphia 76ers’ greatest players legend has branded the Ben Simmons trade saga “total BS”, while handing the 25-year-old a huge reality check.
Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley has branded the Ben Simmons trade saga “total BS” while handing the 25-year-old a timely reality check.
Earlier in the week news emerged that Simmons wants out of Philadelphia and will not show up to training camp if it means forcing his way out.
The Australian is entering the second year of a five-year, $177.2 million ($A285m) but both parties are ready to split.
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Philadelphia though is not wanting to part ways until it finds a suitable trade, with Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard the ideal target.
Simmons’ camp though is trying to accelerate the timeline and force a trade before training camp begins and that did not go down well with Barkley.
Speaking on ‘The Mike Missanelli Show’, Barkley said the Sixers simply can’t cave to the pressure.
“This is total BS and if I’m the Sixers, we had our annual Sixers dinner the other night and I said to those guys I will call Ben Simmons,” he said.
“If you want to be traded that is fine, we’re not giving you away. We’re not going to trade you to where you want to be traded.
“For someone who wants to give up the deal, we’re not taking 25 cents on the dollar. If we don’t get the deal we want, you are going to be playing right here in Philadelphia.
“You don’t run the 76ers, we gave you $200 million, the only thing we ask you to do is shoot the damn basketball and now you’re mad because we’re telling you to shoot the basketball.
“Now you want to go somewhere, I’m not having that. I will take the best deal. If you show up and don’t play, I’m going to suspend you and you won’t get paid.”
Simmons and the Sixers appeared destined for a divorce after coach Doc Rivers’ telling reply to a question about whether the three-time All-Star can be the point guard on a championship team.
“I don’t know the answer to that question right now,” Rivers said at the time.
Joel Embiid also took aim at Simmons for passing up a wide open dunk and those comments along with that of Rivers left the 25-year-old feeling as if he had been thrown under the bus.
Barkley was not copping that claim though.
“That was the softest criticism, that is a fair criticism,” he said.
“First of all, I blame Ben number one because he’s already got one coach ran out of town because he wouldn’t shoot the ball but now he’s on the clock.”
Barkley though did admit he blamed coach Rivers too, adding: “If I had a dollar for every time I heard him say: ‘Wait you want me to take Ben Simmons out of the game?’ … I’m like: ‘Yeah we do, that’s why we keep asking, we’re playing five on four’.
While Simmons’ passed up dunk was a talking point of the off-season, Barkley said it spoke to a bigger issue in the Australian’s game that continues to irritate Philadelphia supporters.
“I think what annoys Philadelphia fans the most, and I’ve been here 36 years, I think they’re mad because he’s afraid,” he said.
“I use this analogy, when you watch the Milwaukee Bucks play and that boy Giannis is not a better free throw shooter than Ben Simmons, but he ain’t scared.
“You’ve got to admire that. He doesn’t care if he misses 100 of them, he doesn’t run from the ball. That dude plays so hard, you’ve got to admire him.
“The hardest thing, not just as a basketball player but as a person, is to look in a mirror and say it is my fault I am not successful. That’s a really hard thing.
“I’m not sure there is a single person in the Sixers organisation that Ben Simmons had from day one that gave him tough love.”
"I think what annoys Philadelphia fans the most ... I think they're mad because [Ben Simmons] is afraid." 😳😳😳
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) September 2, 2021
Charles Barkley is laying down the law all afternoon with Mikey Miss on NBC Sports Philadelphia+, 97.5 The Fanatic, and streaming on the #MyTeams app! pic.twitter.com/ZhqhpY7Upv
Kendrick Perkins made a similar point speaking on ESPN’s ‘The Jump’, claiming teammate Joel Embiid is proof of the “mental toughness” Simmons is lacking.
“You get paid the big bucks to deliver on the big stage and you didn’t do that,” Perkins said.
“Work hard, come back, accept the boos and do what Joel Embiid did, put up with the critics and silence them.
“Simmons lacked mental toughness. If Joel Embiid tweeted out to say ‘I was booed and battled through it and gave people 35 to 40 points and those boos turned into cheers’, he’s telling Ben Simmons prove the people wrong.”
The fact is that Ben Simmons lack MENTAL TOUGHNESS... he needs to learn how to turn those BOOS into CHEERS and that comes from working hard and getting better in the off season. Joel Embiid did it! Carry the hell on... pic.twitter.com/TBfsPxnspn
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) September 2, 2021
Originally published as Ben Simmons trade news: Sixers legend deals Aussie NBA star brutal $285m reality check
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