Yes, yes, I know; nobody gives a shit. Nobody cares about celebrity dating as it pertains to Philadelphia athletes.

Players have their own lives. They’re gonna go out and party, date Instagram models, play video games, and do what most rich 20-something year olds would do.

So I don’t blame Ben Simmons for getting back with Kendall Jenner and bringing her to the Sixers’ New Year’s Eve party in Philly, but it’s just another weird optics thing that looks bad from afar. It looks bad when you’ve lost three games in a row, you get your doors blown off by the Pacers, Josh Richardson talks publicly about a lack of accountability, then you fly back home in time for NYE before getting back on another plane and flying down to Houston.

Via TMZ:


Kendall and Ben were in downtown Philly, where the 76ers rented out Attico, the rooftop restaurant, for an NYE bash. K & B strolled in at around 11:30 PM and stayed for the Cinderella moment.

…

Ben and Kendall have been dating on and off since 2018. They broke up shortly after Kendall was photographed making out with Anwar Hadid, Gigi and Bella‘s little bro.
It seems they were only apart for a short time because as early as January 2019, she was hanging out at 76ers games with Ben’s mom. They also spent Valentine’s Day together last year.

At this point, it’s pretty undeniable … they’re together.

Actually I’m told this was not an organized team function, but something Simmons’ people put together. He would have been there whether they won three games in a row or lost three games in a row. They’ve done the latter, losing three straight while looking really disjointed in the process.

My issue is that the Sixers as a whole just never seem to help themselves in this department, optics. It looks bad when a first-year player calls out the team for a lack of accountability, then they fly home in the middle of a road trip and a third-year player is out and about with his on/off cheating supermodel girlfriend in tow.

Superstar athletes have their social lives and their girlfriends and play Fortnite and all of that stuff, which we’ve established. That’s all good and well. You can’t expect them to sit around and mope after every loss or shut themselves in their condo and feel sorry about it.

But wouldn’t it be nice for somebody on the Sixers to say, “you know what? we have championship aspirations and we’re not playing to that level right now.” Cancel a function. Call a player’s only meeting. Hold a non-scheduled practice. Give a little extra if you really want it. You either have that championship DNA and winner’s mentality, or you don’t, and you wonder often if the Sixers really have that “dog” in them or not.

These are not “boomer” takes.