“Ben Simmons just walked in there and acted like he didn’t know nobody”: Tracy McGrady and other media reports called out Simmons for having a bad attitude and questioned his position in the Draft

Sixers and Ben Simmons’ situation would have been totally different if the Philly coach would have believed in media/scouting reports.

Ben Simmons’ epic trade saga looks like it has no end. The 6’11-point guard was picked 1st overall by Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 Draft class. 

At the time, there were many rumors as well as solid reports regarding Simmons’ attitude and immaturity, but the Sixers ignored them and were excited enough to inform him in advance that he would be the first pick.

That Draft class was jam-packed!! Picking up Ben first was one of the biggest mistakes Sixers would ever make.

Also read: “Ben Simmons is a jump shot away from being LeBron James 2.0”: Stephen A Smith reveals how all the Sixers star needs to fix his jumper amid the whole Philadelphia drama

Brett Brown said he had no doubts about Ben’s attitude and that he will ignore the “false reports” 

Speaking on the radio in Philadelphia, coach Brett Brown said he had no doubts about Ben’s attitude. Brett knew Simmons’ father, Dave, from his time in the NBL (Australia), 

“I don’t and I think when you look at somebody being on the stage, coming from overseas and then being slapped on to the United States stage and having the blanket of everybody having an opinion, and scrutiny, and media assessments,” Brown told WIP radio’s, Angelo Cataldi. 

“I know his family. He comes from strong values. I don’t worry about those sort of conspiracy theories that at times surround Ben. I know how he ticks,” 

“You can’t make up the history that I have had with their family and then you fast-forward it to 2016 and connecting the dots to end up here is very unusual,” he added, talking about his relationship with Ben’s family.

“He’s in a position to be selected first and we’re in a position where the ping-pong ball fell our way, and we have an opportunity to choose him’,” 

“(with the) knowledge of his background, his coaches, people that were around him, his family, I feel like how can that not be an advantage, and in many ways a great advantage?” 

If Brett just believed in the scouting report, Sixers would have been something else 

Simmons’ scouting report before the draft said, “Lacks an outside shot… his defensive intensity is not what it could/should be and there are questions about his attitude and leadership abilities”.

All those points still stand. There were questions over Simmons’s attitude all over the media before his draft. Tracy McGrady told The Jump host Rachel Nichols about Ben’s bad attitude:

“There was one guy that just walked in there and acted like he didn’t know nobody,”  

Stu Jackson, former NBA coach & GM, told SI.com,

“There’s just something about the way Simmons has handled himself, or been handled by his camp, that gives me a little bit cause for pause.”

“Just in terms of whether mentally and personally he’s ready to make this jump to the NBA level, … his body language at times bothered me.” 

“There’s just some personal characteristics with the way he portrayed himself and performed that just gave me a reason to be a little bit hesitant about taking him number one.” 

Also read: “Ben Simmons is a f***ing star”: Actor and 76ers fan Kevin Hart publicly defends disgruntled Sixers point guard on All The Smoke podcast

Even Steph Curry had a bad scouting report, we cannot totally blame Brett Brown, Simmons obviously didn’t do even half of what was expected of him.