The saga surrounding Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers is finally over. After months and months of trying to get him to return while also trying to satisfy his request for a trade, the Sixers sent Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets for superstar James Harden.
After the deal was over, Simmons said that he didn’t speak to Joel Embiid. The two of them led the Sixers for four seasons to try and get the franchise to the top of the NBA, but they weren’t able to get it done. The two of them may have been an awkward fit on the court at times, but there was never any evidence of animosity or anything like that towards each other.
Embiid sat down with ESPN’s Malika Andrews and he revealed that he did, in fact, try to get Simmons to return to the Sixers before the deal:
Before the trade deadline. He’s a great player and I think whatever he’s gonna add to Brooklyn is going to take them another level, too. I did a lot of chasing around. Try to get him back and try to make him feel…