Isiah Thomas believes the Philadelphia 76ers haven’t done enough in terms of trying to get Ben Simmons to suit up for them.
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The Ben Simmons debacle in Philadelphia seems to reached a point of stagnation for the past week or so as there hasn’t been all too much development on that front. Apart from Rich Paul calling out the Sixers for worsening Simmons’s mental health by trying to force him to play, it feels as though a stalemate has been reached between the player and the franchise.
The Philadelphia 7ers don’t seem to be missing Ben Simmons all too much at the moment as they have found a gem in Tyrese Maxey at point guard, who has dropped 30+ points in two games in a row. As for their net rating, they boast a solid 5.4, meaning they’re on average outscoring their opponents by 5.4 points a game.
However, a DPOY level player missing from your lineup isn’t exactly ideal no matter how well your team is doing. According to Isiah Thomas, the Sixers haven’t done enough.
Isiah Thomas and Shaquille O’Neal discuss the Ben Simmons situation.
Zeke appeared on Shaq’s podcast recently and as expected, chopped it up with the Lakers legend about none other than Ben Simmons. During the 12 minute segment, Shaq let it be Known that he does not condone the way Simmons has approached his hold-out against the Sixers.
While O’Neal has emphatically been claiming for months now that he does not appreciate what Ben has been doing to the franchise, IT has a different outlook on things.
According to the Pistons legend, the Philadelphia 76ers have not done enough in trying to ‘recruit’ Ben Simmons back into the Sixers fold ever since he made it clear he wanted out. He cited the example of how Jerry West recruited Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers in 1996, prying him away from the Magic who had cut off contact with him at the time.
Isiah Thomas wants something similar to be done from Daryl Morey and company. It’s obvious that Simmons is wanted out on the floor so as to help increase his trade stock. There is no chance that the Sixers would realistically try to integrate the DPOY candidate into their lineup after everything that has transpired as it would absolutely tank their team chemistry.