NBA superstar Joel Embiid sent one more verbal missile to former Philadelphia 76ers teammate Ben Simmons after he mercifully got traded away to the Brooklyn Nets.
Embiid, who finished second in the MVP voting in 2021 and is reportedly leading the race in 2022, posted this photo that originally went viral in 2015. The pic shows a man in all-black and sunglasses who attended his biggest hater’s funeral to make sure that he was really gone.
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) February 10, 2022
Embiid and Simmons, who were once considered the best and most dominant duo in the league, became adversaries during the 2020-21 playoffs. They lost the winnable series to the Atlanta Hawks because, as most pundits and fans believe, Simmons was afraid to shoot the ball, thereby becoming an insurmountable liability on offense.
After the series loss, Embiid criticized Simmons during the post-game press conference. That, along with the intense national backlash that Simmons endured, prompted Simmons to sit out the season unless he was granted his wish for a trade out of Philadelphia, citing mental health reasons.
Simmons got his wish after losing millions of dollars. He was traded to the Nets along with Steph Curry’s brother Seth, Andre Drummond, and two first-round draft picks. The 76ers, in return, get the highly-prized James Harden and Paul Milsap.
As far as Embiid is concerned, it is good riddance to Simmons and his “crybaby” mentality, as Shaquille O’Neal characterized him on the “NBA on TNT.”
“We don’t get paid to come out here and try to babysit somebody,” Embiid told Sports Illustrated. “That’s not our job. At this point, I don’t care about that man, honestly. He does whatever he wants.”
