Joel Embiid has parting shot for Ben Simmons after Sixers trade: 'It's unfortunate winning was not biggest factor'
The Philadelphia 76ers moved on from a tough situation Thursday when they traded Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for superstar guard James Harden. The trade ended four years of the Simmons-Joel Embiid duo that had so much potential but could never get it done.
The Sixers were a highly successful team with Simmons and Embiid leading the way. The duo was young, talented and looked like they would have a bright future together with the Sixers.
However, after Simmons' failures in the 2021 playoffs, as well as a tumultuous offseason where he requested a trade and did not play a single game for the Sixers again, it was time to move on. Embiid is happy that the saga is finally over.
"I honestly don't care," Embiid said of Simmons. "Like I always said, it's unfortunate how everything happened because you look at the history. Obviously, we didn't get it done as far as winning in the playoffs, but you look at the history being on the court, what we did in the regular season, we were dominant so it's unfortunate that winning was not the biggest factor."
The Sixers were always a high seed during the Simmons-Embiid era, as they even earned the No. 1 seed in 2021 before the second-round flameout. Even after being just one win away from the Eastern Conference finals, Simmons wanted out as he was upset with Embiid and coach Doc Rivers for comments made after the Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
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"It's unfortunate that, for him, having his own team and I guess being a star was more of his priorities," Embiid added. "I've always thought that everything was great. The fit was great, but unfortunately Ben thought that it wasn't, but we all move on."
The Simmons situation was hanging over the Sixers. No matter what the team did as far as winning, it had to answer questions about his availability and status and whether or not he would return.
Now all of that is over.
"I'm happy that I'm not gonna be answering any more questions about that subject," Embiid finished. "It's good not just for me, but my teammates too, and the whole organization. The whole year, it's been pretty annoying with the whole situation, but I'm glad everybody has moved on and I wish everybody the best with whatever they want to accomplish. I'm focused on winning games here and trying to win a championship."
Follow Ky Carlin on Twitter @Ky_Carlin.