My oh my how long has it been? Long enough for me to feel guilty about leaving you all in the lurch for months on end. It troubles me to think that you’ve spent this much time not knowing what opinions you should have on the tumultuous world of Philadelphia fandom. Actually, it’s been an entire pregnancy, as yours truly became an uncle for the first time one week ago. My brother and his wife decided to subject another innocent life to our community of sports misery. The more the merrier, I guess.
Had I sat down a week ago with my niece to discuss the latest goings on with Ben Simmons I may have said to her, “Don’t worry, nothing else is going to happen and it’ll all be over soon.” Since then, he decided to practice with the very team he vowed to never play for again. As we all were probably guessing, his pockets were feeling a little light after missing his quarterly payday of roughly $8 million. Upon his return, there were questions as to whether or not he’d ACTUALLY play for the 76ers and what that might look like, or if he was only there to collect his check and sit out with an “injury”. Yesterday, videos and photos from practice surfaced online where one could clearly tell Ben was, if nothing else, physically present. You don’t need to be a body language expert to interpret how disinterested he was.
Unlike with his perimeter game, he decided to step it up a notch in practice today, resulting in Doc sending him home and the team suspending him for the season opener tomorrow. It’s difficult not to wonder if that was part of his plan to miss games while also collecting a paycheck, but it was nice to see the organization keep their footing during trade talks that may (or more likely may not) be happening.
We’ve all spent too much time thinking and talking about this man over the last few months. Some of it is funny, some of it is infuriating, some of it is mean, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s all turning sad. My mother texted me and me brother tonight and asked us what we thought about the situation. She called it “a shame.” It’s exactly the word I was looking for. It would be too easy and redundant to make fun of Ben for what he’s done to his reputation and trade value in just a few months. Anything that can be said has already been said, and he’s sure to have heard it all. What stands out to me is that I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard him speak. His agent and his camp do all the talking for him. He showed up in Philadelphia and didn’t telling anyone, which to me feels like a child sneaking out at night and running away from home.
Let me be clear, when I sat down to write this, my intention was not to defend him. This could all have been avoided if he stopped believing that his game didn’t need to develop. He has convinced himself, with the help of all the yes-men around him, that he does enough on the court to justify his inability to shoot. He STILL refuses to do it. What if Jalen Hurts came out next week and said, “You know what, I’m pretty good with my legs so I’m not going to throw the ball anymore,” and then insisted on playing quarterback and turned himself into the victim if he was ever criticized. Would any team want him?
It just needs to end. It’s alarming to think about what he’ll hear when he eventually makes his return to Philadelphia for another team. Ben and his squad have made the wrong move at every turn, and it feels like he has no control over it. He’s not a fit here anymore. In reality, he never was. Everyone who is a part of this will be better off when it’s over. As for the guys who play basketball still, I can’t wait to watch Embiid again tomorrow night. He’s always been our guy anyway.
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