“I just don’t think it’s fair”: Joel Embiid candidly speaks on Ben Simmons saga

Philadelphia superstar Joel Embiid has spoken candidly about the Ben Simmons saga, admitting he feels the Australian All-Star has acted unreasonably.

Simmons has not suited up for the 76ers since last season’s shock series loss to the Atlanta Hawks. He performed poorly in the series and was called out by coach Doc Rivers after the fact, souring the relationship.

While Philly has been attempting to trade the Australian, time is running out and the likelihood is he will have to spend the season at the 76ers.

Simmons has already been fined $19 million and will lose a further $12 million if he does not play a game for the franchise this season.

Embiid, who is the frontrunner for the NBA’s MVP, joined 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia on Tuesday and discussed the saga from his perspective.

Embiid on whether Simmons has acted unreasonably:

“Oh, definitely. Definitely. You look at what has been said I just think this is a business. If we don’t get the results, you guys are always on us. You guys are always booing us and all that stuff which at times, we do deserve. You’re not playing well, you deserve the boos. You deserve to be let know that. ‘Oh, you’re not playing well, you need to be better.’ I just don’t think it was reasonable.”

“Yeah, whatever word you want to use. I just don’t think it’s fair. I always go back and this is a business. If a team came and offered, and I’m just making a suggestion, I’m not saying is even possible, let’s say a team can offer which would, which would never happen anyways, a team came and offer let’s say, what team can I use? Golden State. They came and they offered let’s say Steph, Klay (Thompson), and two first-round picks for me. You think the Sixers will say no to that? Of course, they would say yes to that. This is a business. You never know what can happen. You can’t get your feelings hurt just because your name is in trade rumours.”

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Would Embiid welcome Simmons back into the fold if he chose to play?

“Honestly, I’m trying to win. I’m trying to win a championship. Whatever that’s going to help me achieve that, I’m fine with whatever. I’ve always said that. Obviously, we’re a better team with him on the floor and I’m sure a lot of people agree, even if they don’t want to agree, it doesn’t matter. We still are a better team with him on the floor. So, to me, my goal has always been to win a championship. I don’t hate anybody and I don’t have any problems with anybody around the league. Let’s say, I really hated someone on another team and the front office went and traded for that guy because they believe that we could win a championship, you know what? My goal is to win a championship. I’ll be fine with it, but like I said, I don’t hate anybody and I love everybody. I don’t know about how everybody else feels but to me you know, I’m trying to win a championship that, you know, whatever it takes to accomplish that, I’m fine with that.”

On the situation in general

“I’ve been saying since pre-season, it’s unfortunate, you know, everything that’s happened. Everybody’s at fault, but at the end of the day, you got to look at yourself and when we lost, I looked at myself. I knew I wasn’t good enough, I knew I wasn’t healthy enough, and I knew I wasn’t good enough. So I just looked at myself and I try to find ways that I can be better and I can help the team just be better I worked hard this summer to try to improve in every facet of my game and I know a lot of other guys did or you can look at the improvement that Tyrese he made and Tobias has made, every other guy on the team so I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to have some self-awareness and kind of look at yourself and see how you can help the team. It’s never about one player. Like I always say, you can’t win basketball 1-on-5. You need your teammates. You need everybody to do their part.”

On his tough comments regarding Simmons after the playoff loss

“You look at the way I spoke about it, I didn’t call anybody specifically. I just called out a bunch of events that happened, which was we missed a free throw and which was Matisse (Thybulle). Matisse wasn’t mad at me. He just knew that I’m challenging and like, I want us to be better. I want to be better and I want my teammates to also be better. He didn’t get mad at me, and then I also called out my own turnovers. I had a big one in that fourth quarter by Gallinari; he stole the ball from me. There was also a bunch of other events. We fouled 3-point shooters in the end of that four quarter. There was a lot of stuff that happened and, obviously, coach made some comments.”

On if he has reached out to Ben Simmons privately

“It’s private. I don’t want to get into that. It’s private.”