Game 32 - Hawks @ Sixers December 23 @ 7 pm ET

[Tomjas]

"My hero"?

I don't have a horse in this race.
I don't even follow the NBA really.
However the dynamic & reading this forum has been interesting.

You are kidding yourselves if you think you lot are objective.
The fans & management & coaching staff walked away from Simmons publicly. At that point, it was essential that the front office get a trade done.

It wasn't done.
And then to expect Simmons to come back to be cannon fodder...how has that worked out?

What you say about Simmons coming back and playing out of his skin and proving everybody wrong! is clearly not in him. Surely the coaching staff should have known that?

From what I read Simmons is not getting paid.
Fines to date total $7m to $8.25m, in that range.
That tells me there is a major issue with his headspace.

I guess he could come back, play like **** and collect his money right? Which position shows more integrity?

I saw so many comments on the Simmons trade thread when a trade wasn't done to get him back and "pump and dump" etc. Really, people thought that was a viable option?

Clearly Simmons is weak mentally, maybe he has a fear of failure, maybe he has clinical depression maybe he's bipolar. Whatever the issue is, it was pre-existing before he passed up the open dunk. Again the coaching staff must have known?

You're right about some of the fan base, but most of us would have felt differently had he been straightforward from the start regarding whatever was going on with him mentally instead of going into radio silence and shutting down communication completely the way he did.

Instead, we saw the same videos of him working on and draining threes, then nothing. I don't regard a professional athlete refusing to live up to his contract and refusing to even communicate as "integrity".

I never subscribed to the 'pump and dump' idea, and I don't believe the coaching staff or management knew of whatever mental condition he might have had before this off season. He clearly should have been moved a couple of years ago, but I think management here saw what they considered a generational talent, and wanted to find a way to bring that talent out here instead of see it blossom elsewhere.

Regardless, this is all moot, and has been since the season started. Morey is rightly not going to give away a player considered
a generational talent by many not long ago for spare parts. At this point, what is right for the organization is Morey's first and only priority.

You can count the number of people in his position who have admitted to this type of thing on 2 hands

Saying that he should have been straight forward is incredibly naive if he’s actually dealing with stuff as seems likely

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Been saying it since the start of the year. This team is a 41-41 team as is. Embiid for all his greatness can't carry this team by himself. We knew this was going to be a down year once the Simmons saga dragged into the regular season. Morey's hands are tied with this. What else was he supposed to do? Either take the short term deal to keep us competitive, but not good enough to win it all? Or struggle through a down year essentially wasting another year of Embiids prime only to cash in later? How long until we decide to pull the plug on the season? Those of you predicting a 50 plus win season with the roster constructed as is were way off. We're gonna get smoked in the first round of the playoffs by the Nets or Bucks if we even get there.

I'm not saying tank the season or shut Embiid down, but I think he needs to be put on cruise control. Just go out, play the game, take it easy, keep the fans entertained while developing the younger guys. If we pull the 8th seed amongst all the turmoil and Ben drama, the season will be deemed somewhat of a success.

I'll say this about Ben....Shame on him! What a POS person/human being he is. I don't ever EVER want to see him in a Philly jersey ever again. I hope the worst for him at this point, he is the epitome and absolute definition of an enemy at this point. Just a straight up scumbag move on his part. All he had to do was show some class, play the season out until a trade was made. Had he done that, he'd already be playing on another team. Nobody is going to trade for him without knowing exactly what they will be getting in return. Ok...rant about Ben is ovah.

Are you a child?

That's all ya got? Go dance pantless in front of your Ben Simmons poster. Have your mom bring you a hot pocket. Clownshoe.

[mjkvol]

You can count the number of people in his position who have admitted to this type of thing on 2 hands

Saying that he should have been straight forward is incredibly naive if he’s actually dealing with stuff as seems likely

If it's 'naive' to feel that there is a certain responsibility that comes with an organization making a $130 million dollar investment in you, then I plead guilty.