"I Don't Care About That Man!": Joel Embiid Blasts Ben Simmons After Practice Fiasco

October 19, 2021

 


The soap opera that is the Philadelphia 76ers continues to bring the goods. After Ben Simmons was kicked out of practice today by head coach Doc Rivers, All-Star center Joel Embiid held nothing back when talking about it afterwards:

"At this point I don't care about that man," said Embiid, addressing the media. "He does whatever he wants. That's not my job... I'm only focused on trying to make the team better."

He went on to blast Simmons for acting like a child:

“At the end of the day, our job is not to babysit somebody," Embiid said. As for Simmons' mood at practice, the all-star center replied, "I don't care. That's his problem."

Simmons has already been fined $1.4 million for missing four preseason games, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski, hasn't earned a dime since returning to Philadelphia last week. 

Doc Rivers tossed Simmons out of practice today for refusing to join a defensive drill. The Sixers followed up by suspending him for one game, that being tomorrow night's season-opener in New Orleans. 

It was obvious this type of thing was coming, after watching Simmons being completely disengaged at practice on Monday, when he shuffled around with a cell phone in his sweatpants and neglected to join team huddles.

He's clearly taking on the James Harden strategy (from last season in Houston) of showing just how much he really doesn't want to be there, thereby hopefully expediting the trade process. But will this type of behavior actually make teams step up their offers? 

Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports




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