“I was pissed off, I thought I’d really lose it”: Joel Embiid reveals how the Ben Simmons drama took a serious toll on his mental health

Ben Simmons’ time in Philly came to an unfortunate conclusion, much earlier than many people would have seen, including former teammate Joel Embiid.

The ex-76er looked like he was going to be a key piece of the team moving forward, forming a dynamic duo with Joel Embiid. The two made All Star teams together, took Philly from the laughing stock of the league to a true championship contender (at one point), and almost made it to the Eastern Conference Finals one year (had Kawhi not made one of the craziest buzzer-beaters in history).

However, the relationship between Simmons and the team really soured last year after his lack of shooting ability was exposed by the Atlanta Hawks. The #1 seeded 76ers lost to the #5 Atlanta Hawks in a shocking way, and Simmons’ play was a major reason why.

Trade rumors sparked and even head coach Doc Rivers wouldn’t commit to saying that Simmons was going to be an integral piece of the future. All of that culminated in Simmons forcing a trade out to Brooklyn in exchange for James Harden (who wanted his own trade), and now all the drama is over. However, Embiid still can’t explain any of it.

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Joel Embiid can’t explain why Ben Simmons left Philly

Around the time the 76ers were knocked out of the playoffs last year things looked really dark for the team. Reports on reports were coming out about Ben Simmons.

There were questions about his trade availability, rumors of how he believed that his relationship with Joel Embiid was through, and other stories of how he wanted a change of scenery.

It was overwhelming for Embiid who really had to question his mental sanity at the time. “I read everything,” Embiid said. “I was pissed off. There were so many times that I thought I’d really lose it.”

Now that it’s all over, Embiid doesn’t have much to say about it. He can’t tell you why Simmons was so driven to leave Philly, bit at the end of the day, he’s moved on from it.

“I don’t have any hard feelings,” Embiid says. “I don’t have any hate toward him. I wouldn’t mind being friends. That’s just me. I don’t care. Honestly. I respect the decision he made. I think it’s unfortunate what happened, but to me it’s whatever.”

The two haven’t talked since Simmons’ departure and the entire ordeal hung over the 76ers’ heads throughout this season. It was frustrating for everyone and head coach Doc Rivers breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally over.

“The guys were just over it,” Rivers said. “We were winning games, and, every town we went to, we were talking about Ben. I don’t know if we could have gotten through the second half of the season with that hanging over our heads. I was praying something happened.”

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