Since the Sacramento Kings decided to give Ben Simmons his shot at an NBA comeback, the former Philadelphia 76ers guard is getting the documentary treatment from ESPN.
"Being Ben" premiered on Sunday and revisited the three-time All-Star's NBA journey up to this point. When the hour-long piece was initially teased back in September, I couldn't help but wonder if new information was being brought to the table regarding Simmons' fallout with the team.
We all saw the dunk he passed up on against the Atlanta Hawks during Game 7 in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, but that just felt like a large bubble bursting. Surely, Simmons wasn't ready to throw away his status as a franchise player for the 76ers over one play, right? "At what point did you feel like things in Philadelphia were going in the wrong direction?" was asked to Simmons in the trailer. Now, we have our answer.
Daryl Morey doesn't get enough heat
I'm not here to free Ben Simmons from blame. Every Sixers fan that feels like he lacked accountability, didn't do everything he could to improve in areas he needed to, and let relationships slip when they shouldn't have, is right to feel that way.
But man, Daryl Morey did not catch nearly enough heat in Philadelphia early on for the way he approached his situation. One year before Morey got there, Elton Brand handed Simmons a five-year contract that told him you are the franchise player with Joel Embiid. Morey arrived and famously tried to move Simmons for James Harden, before the petty Houston Rockets sent The Beard to Brooklyn.
Daryl Morey was always playing a game of 2K. Add players with good numbers, and don't worry about the chemistry aspect. You try to trade a guy on the game, and nothing happens? No big deal, you keep playing. You do that in real life, it sends an actual human being a message: You're not the guy. How can a player be confident moving forward, knowing that the person with the keys to make decisions is trying to get him out of there?
Ben Simmons makes his thoughts clear
"I'm not dumb, I'm a smart guy, I know what's going on," Simmons said in the documentary, discussing Daryl Morey. "You're trying to set this up, you're trying to make every bad decision I've made in the game, and turn it into something else. That's just what it is, but like, at the end of the day, I've made more great plays than bad plays. ... If you don't want me there, then I'm gone."
Simmons made it clear that he doesn't hold any hard feelings towards James Harden for the way that everything played out. He also didn't make any mention of Joel Embiid, which was surprising considering they clearly had a falling out at one point. While there were some moments about Doc Rivers, specifically when Rivers had a bad answer about Simmons in his final presser of the Hawks series in 2021, Simmons only had an issue with the head coach after that moment. For Morey, it was from the beginning until the end.
"It was never like I never wanted to be in Philly," Simmons added. "Somebody had come in--obviously, was trying to get me out--made promises to James. Obviously, James and him don't have... I don't believe they have a relationship anymore now, but that's just the business. There's some good guys in there, and some bad guys. People you can't trust. There's some snakes, and I think he's one of them."
In hindsight, Morey's decision to move Simmons when he did was the correct one. Simmons struggled with injuries and didn't return to his Philly form throughout stints in Brooklyn and Los Angeles with the Clippers. But he still should've caught more heat for the way he botched the relationship early on.
It wasn't until James Harden publicly called him a liar that Morey's seat started getting hot over the way he was handling things behind the scenes with his stars. It still took some time for the Sixers to realize that his ways could end up burning them. Three years after the Harden fiasco, Morey was called out by one more star (Joel Embiid), and his job security reached zero after the 2026 playoffs.
The 76ers are getting a fresh start with Mike Gansey leading the front office for this season and beyond. Ben Simmons is getting another one of his after taking a year off and landing in Sacramento with the Kings, where he is expected to play a starting role in 2026.
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