Ben Simmons has praise and criticism for Sixers fans

Former Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons made a splash in the NBA news cycle in the past day or so. Simmons spoke in a long-form conversation with former Sixers teammate now turned media personality J.J. Redick on his ‘Old Man and the Three Podcast’.

Many topics were touched on, maybe not enough if you ask me. An issue that was addressed was Simmons’ praise and criticism of the city of Philadelphia.

Ben Simmons criticized (and praised) the Sixers fandom on J.J. Redick’s podcast

The topic honestly was barely touched upon. One question with one or two follow-ups. Redick prefaced the question with his own experience. Simmons’ response began with some saltiness. It began with his criticism. Addressing the people and reporters who just say anything.

Simmons didn’t like that fact. The fact that people would ask why he wasn’t in the gym if he posted a photo of his car or his dog. Now without context, I’m with Ben on that. The idea of saying that suggests that he’s not practicing to get better. With the context, the people saying that stuff are voicing their anger with Simmons for not attempting what he practiced to get better at in an actual game.

The amount of times I’ve gone over this when the whole situation was going on is too many. It’s incredible that Simmons won’t admit that and is too focused on the negativity that those words had for him. It was a built-up topic for so long so it’s weird that he looks at it in such a black-and-white manner.

The praise that Simmons gave was things that have been said by him in different ways. The compliments are genuine. His praising of the passion from Philly and bringing excitement to Sixers basketball are valid points.

I’m sure he enjoyed his time playing for the city no matter how sour it ended. The topic was wrapped up with Simmons saying he still has an apartment in the city so he feels he’s still a part of the city, followed by a laugh. A clear troll that will get the clicks and views that Simmons criticized Shaq for later on in the interview. To be fair, that’s probably Simmons’ way of playing that media game that has been played against him.

Ben Simmons and J.J. Redick knew exactly what they were doing with this interview on the headline-grabbing front. The other part was obviously for Simmons to speak with someone he’s comfortable with to really put the Philadelphia 76ers saga of his career behind him for good for himself. The praise and criticism were somewhat expected but it’s closure. I guess if you weren’t past this already. With that being said, I hope to never again address Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers in the same sentence after listening to this podcast.