Ben Simmons Might be a Quitter, But This Isn't a One-Way Street
One of the things you’ll hear people say about athletes who want out is that they’re quitters. They quit on their team and the city. The front office and the fans. They couldn’t suck it up and play harder or improve their game.
We said this with Carson Wentz, who asked out after a dismal 2020 season, despite having multiple years of big money left on his contract.
And we’re doing it now with Ben Simmons, who reportedly told Josh Harris, Elton Brand, Daryl Morey, and Doc Rivers that he’s done with the Sixers and does not plan on reporting to training camp in Camden. That’s according to Keith Pompey at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The reaction is as expected. Social media and sports radio teeing off Ben Simmons for being a “loser” and walking away. Here’s a guy who only shot the ball 14 times in games five, six, and seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals. A guy who passed on a dunk in a critical spot and didn’t rise to the occasion as a max player on a #1 seed playing on its home court against a Hawks team that had no business taking that series to seven.
Ben Simmons brought this on himself.
But when the fans want a guy out, and that guy says, “okay, well now I want out,” what we have here isn’t “quitting.” We have a mutual understanding. The understanding that Ben’s time in Philadelphia is over. We know it, he knows it, and the Sixers front office knows it. It’s not a surprise. It’s the acceptance that this “journey” is done and a clean break will benefit both sides.
This had been predetermined, because of what we saw on the court. Ben Simmons is an elite defender and floor-runner with apex vision and passing ability. His game is excellent for the casual nature of the regular season, when the Sixers would often get out early and just blitz other teams in transition with Ben driving, kicking, and finding wide-open teammates for catch and shoot threes. Nobody in the NBA was better at collapsing a defense and opening up the three point line. The unfortunate thing is that Ben’s skill set is not suited for the playoffs, where the pace slows down and perimeter players must find ways to create their own shots against teams that are switching, trapping, blitzing, walling, hedging, and defending in ways you just don’t see in the regular season. And since Ben does not shoot and cannot create his own shot unless driving to the rim, he instead has to go down to the weak side under the basket (the dunker spot) to stand in place, attack the offensive glass, and try to open the floor for teammates who will shoot.
That’s where the focus should be. The on-court stuff. He’s just not the player they need right now, and you have a relatively small window here to maximize Joel Embiid’s prime and try to get over the hump.
That said, there are a lot of things said about Ben Simmons’ off-the-court habits that are a little misleading, and I’ll play Devil’s Advocate here for the sake of fairness:
- He’s running around with Kendall Jenner and Maya Jama and supermodels and whatever. This isn’t a big deal. He’s young and has money and wants to live that life. Plus, Joel Embiid married a model, so who really cares?
- Saying he’s not a “Philly guy” is misleading. For the most part, he was healthy, available, and played hard. Especially on the defensive end. If you want to say a “blue collar” guy works hard to improve his game, then that’s reasonable. That’s where this specific critique should be steered.
- Joking about Call of Duty or whatever: most dudes in their early and mid twenties are video game dorks (raises hand). By the way, the Diablo 2 remaster comes out in a few weeks.
- He hates the media: Not entirely true. Ben was very terse in his first couple of seasons but I think doing media on Zoom vs. having 50 people in your face softened him up a bit. He seemed more comfortable talking with us in 2021.
That’s all. I am not a Ben Simmons “stan,” but I feel like some of those criticisms are a little off-base. There’s PLENTY to criticize him for, but some of these items are a reach.
Ben Simmons might be a quitter, but this isn’t a one-way street. A large portion of the fan base (justifiably) called for his ass to hit the road, after sticking with him for several seasons. Daryl Morey offered him in the James Harden trade talks. What’s Ben’s motivation to prove himself to a city and front office that doesn’t want him? This was already unraveling, and sometimes these things just reach a natural end, which is what we have here. The Ben Simmons + Philadelphia relationship is irreparably damaged and won’t be repaired.
Daryl Morey, time’s yours.