Waiting for the training camp and the preseason officially begins in the NBA, and after the big issues of the summer (market, draft, Summer Leagues …), there is little movement in the League environment beyond the whirlwind that continues to be the great soap opera, the great issue that remains to be resolved before the start of the next season: Where is Ben Simmons going to play?
The situation is known: the Australian has a four-year, $ 147 million contract with the Sixers, but he has made it clear to the franchise that he is not going to show up for those first trainings of the course. That would put the team, players and coaching staff in a media circus, not at all desirable. It is Simmons’s great asset to press for a way out, an option that sooner or later will end up being produced. after the terrible end of last season, for the team as a team and for the point guard in particular.
The Sixers also prefer a separation, but remain firm because they do not want the market value of a player to be further devalued for whom no one wants to give everything they ask for right now. Daryl Morey, who wants a return not unlike the one the Rockets got less than a year ago for James Harden. Something that seems impossible.
Meanwhile, criticism continues to feed on Simmons, the latest released by Shaquille O’Neal himself through The Big Podcast With Shaq. Of course, and as is usual with him, Shaquille does not cut himself: “I have privileged information to say what I am going to say, just like Charles Barkley: Ben Simmons, you ain’t that good. Also, in a league like the NBA, do you want to be good or do you want to be one of the greats? You are not one of the greats. And if you want to get to the next level, you have to be. And to be, you have to work harder to improve. “
In addition, the one who was three times champion with the Lakers and one with the Heat, left this advice for the still player of the Sixers: “Do not go putting photos of your Ferrari or the actress you are dating on Instagram. When you play on the team in cities like Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami … they are cities where you work hard. They don’t give a shit about all that. What matters to them is that you go there, put yourself to work and play hard. “
