“The Ben Simmons thing was frustrating!”: Sixers swingman blasts Aussie-born PG for messing up the Philadelphia 76ers’ chemistry by not playing this season

If there’s one person within the Sixers camp who’s not afraid to speak his mind about the Ben Simmons trade saga, it’s Georges Niang.

Getting to the NBA and staying on as a role player requires a lot of patience and acceptance for most people. They all make sacrifices at the personal, professional level in order to let the team and winning take precedence.

Georges Niang is one of those who’ve been through the grind, having been pigeon-holed into a specific role now. Drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the same draft as Ben Simmons, Niang has had to work for every penny he’s earned in the NBA.

Superstars like Ben Simmons get a ton of criticism, unwarranted hate and attention. But they’re also the ones making the big bucks. They’re the ones with the ball in their hands, the guys who head coaches draw plays up for.

When an average person compares the sacrifice made by Georges Niang to Ben Simmons’ rather cavalier attitude towards his teammates this season, it’s really hard to pick sides with the 25-year-old.

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Georges Niang minces no words while chewing out Ben Simmons for his antics this season

It was only a matter of time before someone on the Sixers roster chirped directly at the 6’10” defensive ace. Georges Niang, who signed with Philly as a free agent this past summer, has been among those plugging in for Simmons.

Doc Rivers has reposed a ton of faith in the 6’7″ power forward, who makes his money on the defensive end. Niang himself came to Philly under the impression that he’d be contending for a championship. He’s able to do that in the realest sense now, and he’s happy for it:

“What had happened before with the whole Ben Simmons thing was frustrating, right. At the end of the day, I know mental health is a real thing and something that needs to be taken seriously, but also, a lot of us came here to win.”

“At the end of the day we’re all well-compensated and we have a job to do, this is our job, we’re paid to be basketball players, and I understand your health comes first, but I think in the grand scheme of things, we were depending on him, we were depending on him to compete for a championship.”

“So now that we were able to get someone else who’s at that caliber and even better, it was like a breath of fresh air… For us it was almost like, “yes!”, we have someone that wants to be here, wants to be ingrained in our culture, and wants to grow with us as a teammate, as a team, and use their basketball knowledge to bring us to the next level.”

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