The Sixers played a Summer League basketball game in Las Vegas last night, and like every summer league game before it, the only thing worth watching was Ben Simmons. The cameras panned to Joel Embiid during a slow moment in the ACTION (free-throw, timeout, an inbounds play, whatever) as the broadcasters were talking about him, while interviewing Brett Brown. Embiid was on his phone.

Let’s give some TAKES on this TAKE.

Jim

I barely noticed because I was ALSO on my phone. Why? Because that’s totally normal and fine. What else is Joel Embiid, who wasn’t sitting on the bench, supposed to be doing other than briefly checking his phone or chatting and joking with Jahlil Okafor? He was sitting pretty close to Josh Harris, so maybe he was just texting Nerlens “Please kill me LOL.” In terms of sports talk radio Twitter takes, this is far from the hottest, but here’s where I have a huge problem: Some people have a hard time understanding that just because an athlete plays for a team you like doesn’t mean you can decide what they can and can not do during their free time. There’s a feeling of ownership that can only be attributed to this incredibly flawed logic: I pay money to go to games/buy shirts and jerseys. That money goes to your paycheck. Therefore I can tell you what to do.

Imagine if you were out at a bar waiting on a drink and your boss walked up. As you’re waiting for your next drink, your boss (responsible for ALL of the money you get paid, btw) says “Do you really think it’s responsible to use MY money on this drink?” Yes Kyle, I do. Let me get my hoppy as shit IPA in peace, dude.

You can’t police the attitude, actions, or feelings of a young millionaire you don’t know just because you think you should be able to. It’s shitty, it’s lame, and it’s a little sad. Plus, Embiid was probably just trying to catch a damn Zubat.

Kyle

I often defend Cataldi, mostly because I think his wildly successful show and impressive longevity are worth celebrating. But this is absolutely absurd, and the takiest of all sports talk radio takes. WTF? Embiid is not playing. It’s an exhibition game (and barely even that). The head coach is in a t-shirt talking to two god awful announcers. The rest of the team is at home. Embiid wasn’t sitting on the bench (as evidenced by the fact that he’s next to two pasty, scrawny white dudes who aren’t Nik Stauskas and T.J. McConnell). He’s checking his fucking phone because that’s what people do– they check their fucking phones sometimes. This Tweet from Cataldi is everything that’s wrong with the Philly sports culture in one succinct, call-eliciting nutshell. I don’t think Cataldi actually believes this– he just wanted to generate conversation (which is more a sad commentary on sports talk radio).

This is the sort of retarded, toxic environment that pried Sam Hinkie from the front office. Our priorities are so horribly misplaced that we deride a general manager for putting his team in a position to succeed or worry about a player who is spectating a game he doesn’t have to be at checking his phone, out of some misplaced regard for respect and competition in a league that doesn’t always value them. This is why I’m worried about whether Ben Simmons will make it here or not. The first time he’s spotted at a posh New York restaurant with [insert celebrity who wouldn’t be caught dead in second-rate Philly] we’re going to kill him for being soft or not blue collar, this despite the fact that he’ll probably be the best athlete Philly has seen since Donovan McNabb or Allen Iverson.

And hey, speaking of RIDICULOUS takes and questions to spawn conversation, this:

What? Why is this even a topic? On what level of discourse is this even interesting? But, if you must:

The Bradford and Simmons hype are not even remotely relatable. Bradford was a much maligned quarterback coming off consecutive injuries who turned out a few good drives for a team that looked like it could be unstoppable. Simmons is the top pick in the draft, and has shown superior, once-in-a-generation ability. The only thing they have in common is that they both did something in games that didn’t count.

Look, the summer is slow. I wrote two posts about Prime Day yesterday (we generated a shitload in sales, actually). But I hate the fact that it breeds this sort of idiocy.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to check and see if Jason Kelce is playing baggo in Sea Isle for the third day in a row.