The Philadelphia 76ers want to move on from Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons wants to leave the Philadelphia 76ers. Wash, rinse, repeat, and that's been the news cycle in the NBA for the past three months or so.
Simmons has done everything in his power to leave the team. His attitude towards his teammates, the organization, and the fans, has left a lot to be desired. But truth be told, the team also failed him when he most needed their support.
That's why Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas is actually siding with Simmons in this conflict. He thinks the team dogged him instead of protecting him and blamed them for this stand-off.
Isiah Thomas Calls Out The Sixers Over Ben Simmons' Drama
"Oh, they dogged him," Thomas said on Gilbert Arenas' 'No Chill Gil' Podcast. "Well, here’s what happened. Yeah, he had a bad moment. He has some bad moments in the playoffs, right? What your team, your coach, and your organization is supposed to do in your bad moments, they are supposed to protect you. They ain’t supposed to air your dirty laundry out. Your teammates ain’t supposed to be like, ‘Oh man, he didn’t’ nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah."
"They’re supposed to protect you," Thomas added. "Now the fans and everybody else, when Shaq was going 4-for-18 from the foul line, I didn’t hear Phil Jackson dogging Shaq. I didn’t hear the inside that Lakers organization. Now, they may have been saying ‘Hey, big fella, we need to work on the free throws’, but they weren’t publicly dissing him."
Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid should've never called Simmons out in public. Also, Simmons should've embraced criticism from day one, put his ego aside, and work on the few flaws in his game. Now, this story won't go away any time soon.
