The Sixer Sense
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Shaquille O’Neal “Guarantees” Philadelphia 76ers Won’t See Simmons In 2016 NBA Draft

By Bret Stuter

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Shaquille O’Neal guarantees Philadelphia 76ers will never have the chance to select Ben Simmons in the 2016 NBA draft.

Conspiracy Theorists generally wait for an event to happen before publicizing claims of clandestine smoky room deals that thwart, cause, or terminate a person, place, or event. But that did not stop Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal from citing his belief that “the powers that be” have already pre-determined that results of the upcoming NBA draft. In his words:

"“Philly can tank all they want,” he said. “They’re not getting the first pick. Ain’t no way they—whoever ‘they’ may be—is sending that young man to Philadelphia.All the great, great players in the league, the draft, there has been talk of a conspiracy theory. All the way from Ewing to me to LeBron playing in Cleveland. So I’m guaranteeing Philly ain’t gonna get the first pick. I’m guaranteeing you that right now. Philly won’t even come close to getting the first pick.” – Shaquille O’Neal as heard on The Big Podcast With Shaquille O’ Neal"

In the podcast, Shaq was asked the true destination of Ben Simmons via the draft? He hinted that the likely destination could be the team which he is part owner, the Sacramento Kings. But when the alternative came to the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq chuckled in a wink-wink tone “Hey, you said it, not me!”.

Nobody corrected Shaq on the assertion that the Sacramento Kings would end up with Simmons. If the Sacramento Kings leapfrog the Sixers in the draft, the Sixers will simply enact their clause of swapping draft picks with the Kings and assume the Kings place in the draft, which would place the Kings in the inferior Sixer spot.

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This is not the first time there has been a dissenting opinion that the Philadelphia 76ers should not get the first pick of the 2016 NBA draft.  We had addressed a similar, but more vitriol-laced Hot Takes video which used a loosely assembled listing of hyperbole and mis-truths to arrive at the same conclusion.

But the podcast message got its point accross, as suddenly social media exploded with the news.

While we can discuss possibility probability and the likelihood of whether the Philadelphia 76ers will pick first in this 2016 NBA draft at another time, the fact is that if the NBA took steps to augment the chances of the Lakers getting the first pick at the expense of Philly’s chance is ludicrous. For as long as the Lakers have been a successful NBA franchise, so too have the Sixers. For the belief that Los Angeles needs a competitive Lakers team to enhance marketing in that city, they already have the Los Angeles Clippers and the Lakers organization certainly has had it’s share of success in the past.

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But so too have the Sixers. Philadelphia is a very basketball oriented city, and has a long and robust history in the NBA.  It seems very disappointing that a leading sports figure of the NBA can propagate such a negative attitude towards the city and team which has meant so very much to the sport overall.  If not for Philadelphia’s Doctor J, Chocolate Thunder, The Boston Strangle, the marketability of the NBA league would be much different today.

We will continue to see more of these arguments and promises as we move closer to the NBA draft.   It’s simply a shame that Shaquille O’Neal has made it a point to joint the throng.