Star can’t help himself in Simmons swipe

The Sixers’ media day was dominated by questions about the All-Star Aussie whose absence meant it was all anyone wanted to talk about.

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The team was under no illusions that the topic of the day would be Simmons and the rift that appears set to tear the team apart as suitors line up to try and get the 25-year-old three-time all star and two-time All-Defensive First Team player.

The man with the most to say — or at least the most questions regarding his relationship with Simmons — was the Sixers superstar centre Joel Embiid.

His comments after the infamous game seven when asked what the turning point in the 103-96 loss that saw the Sixers ousted in the second round of the Playoffs to the Atlanta Hawks have now gone down in the folklore of the saga.

“I mean, I’ll be honest. I thought the turning point was when we — I don’t know how to say it — but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and then they came down and scored,” he said at the time.

Simmons, who feels like he was thrown under the bus by the team is willing to be fined for not turning up to the Sixers pre-season camp in a bid to force a trade.

He has reportedly told teammates not to come to try and meet with him, and doesn’t want to play for the Sixers again after being a lightning rod for any of the team’s shortcomings in his four years in the NBA.

Comments from Embiid and coach Doc Rivers have been highlighted as part of the reason Simmons wants out.

Rivers attempted to rewrite history last week after he was asked following the season-ending loss whether Simmons could ever be a championship-winning point guard and responded “I don’t know”. He said the comment was taken out of context.

Embiid is also trying to clarify his comments after the defeat and now says he was referring to Australian teammate Matisse Thybulle — not Simmons.

“I don’t think I said anything,” Embiid said. “I was asked a question, what was the turning point of the game and I really believe that it was the turning point of the game.

“If anybody needs to actually be mad is me freaking calling Matisse (Thybulle) out for missing a freaking free throw. We all talked about it, we all joked about it.

“We know we got to be better so, nah I don’t have any regrets because I didn’t call out anybody. I just stated the facts. I’m honest, I can’t lie, and that’s just me. I don’t have any regrets because I don’t feel like I put anybody in a situation where they had to feel bad.

“At the end of the day just like I just said, we got to have self-awareness and we got to figure out ways to get better as players and as a team.”

Thybulle opened up on former 76ers star JJ Redick’s podcast The Old Man & The Three about Simmons being “thrown under the bus” last week, as he copped minimal blowback for the missed free throw.

Rivers also went viral for all the wrong reasons after snapping at a journalist.

Rivers added: “I still think the world of him. I still think the world of him is a player. Just because he doesn’t do certain things that you want him to do doesn’t make him a bad player. He made the All-Star team. He almost won the Defensive Player of the Year award.”

Embiid was peppered with questions about Simmons and reiterated that he wanted the Aussie back.

He said that all the Sixers needed to be better, turning the attention on himself for his turnovers and stating that all his teammates need to be better.

But when asked what he would like to see if Simmons returned, Embiid couldn’t help himself.

Simmons, who has for so long been criticised for his lack of a jump shot and unwillingness to score despite being an elite passer and defender, continues to share video of his workouts, shooting long distance jumpers and huge dunks.

Embiid said that would help if Simmons did find his way back to Philly.

“I’m sure we all see the videos, so that would help because he has that potential,” Embiid said. “He has that potential to be that good.

“We know what he brings defensively. Even without that, offensively he just creates a lot of shots, mainly for our three-point shooters. And then I think offensively, something he’s got to focus on — especially because I post up a lot and he’s in the dunker (spot) — something he can focus on is I think he can be a monster on offensive rebounds.

“There’s so much attention on me — all the time they send double and triple teams at me — and I feel like he always has a mismatch, whether it’s me playing high-low and passing the ball or, if I end up shooting it, him having the opportunity to grab way more offensive rebounds than he has been in the past.

“So I think there’s a few ways he can better, but it’s not all on him. Like I keep saying, I’ve got to do better. You go back to Game 7 (in the second round against the Hawks), I turned the ball over a few times. I missed a couple of easy shots. Game 4, I missed the game-winning layup. Game 6, I had a really bad game. Game 4, I shot 0 for 12 in the second half. So I’ve got to be better. That can’t happen, especially if these guys are going to count on me the way they do.”

Asked what he would say to Simmons if he had a chance to speak to him, Embiid said: “Honestly, I would probably say, ‘I’m disappointed’.”

“I’m disappointed where the situation is. … I’m just disappointed that he’s not here,” Embiid said. “He knows it, too; he knows we can win together. A few of us have complained about the fans. I think, as a whole, we just need to not care and just play better. Just play our game. It doesn’t matter.

“How many people have told me, ‘Don’t shoot threes’? This year I’m thinking about freaking shooting more threes. I don’t care, because that’s what’s going to help the team.

“Last year I thought one of the things that hurt us a lot is we didn’t shoot a lot of threes. People have different views on that, but I think it goes a long way, so that’s something that I’m going to do. If you’re not comfortable doing so, then don’t do it.

“And in this situation, Ben does so many great things for the team that it’s not really needed at times. At times it might be, but it’s not really needed because defensively he’s a monster, and then offensively he creates so many open threes.”

The rest of the players all appeared to be hitting the talking points as expected in public declarations of love for Simmons.

Originally published as ‘We all see the videos’: Joel Embiid can’t help himself in Ben Simmons saga