The Philadelphia 76ers are no strangers to getting their rugs pulled. Drama has been a perennial ingredient to the franchise's annual ventures to the point where a wholesome season on the off-court side of things should honestly prompt the banner-makers into action.
Most notable of all the 76ers-related histrionics through the years is the epic falling-out between the franchise and then-star Ben Simmons. This probably doesn't need any more context spoonfeeding, as it is what basically ushered the franchise into yet another era.
And in the spirit of candidness, we present to you the prime candidate for burn of the year care of former 76ers forward Georges Niang.
Former 76ers forward Georges Niang drops shocking F-bomb on Ben Simmons
Niang recently hopped on the Road Trippin' podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, and Allie Clifton and while he may not have intended to do so, he ended up being a massive show stealer when asked about what he felt when Ben Simmons opted to sit out the entire 2021-22 season.
I came from Utah, I signed just a little over the minimum. And I’m like ‘oh, this is perfect. I’m a spot up shooter, this guy f—ing drives the lane everybody collapses, he kicks out, like this is going to be great for my career. I signed a two-year deal. And then he was like, ‘I’m not playing’.
So I’m like, ‘How the am I going to make something happen?’ And then he was walking around the facility, and you’d be like, ‘What’s up, man? Because you know, and he’d be like, , and that’s when I was like, f–– this dude.
Niang had first-hand memories of how Simmons' infamous holdout came to be, and it's definitely refreshing to see an ex-teammate of the former All-Star confirm what everyone else has been pointing out –– that Simmons quitted on the team under the pretense of external pressure.
Players get embroiled in toxic situations, but almost no one has pulled off what Simmons did. It's even funnier when you consider that the toxicity being admitted here is mostly his own doing. The 76ers are definitely not faultless, but everything stemmed from his sheer refusal to grow from outside and within, much to the detriment of the team as a whole.
The 31-year-old Niang, now with the Cavaliers, still managed to turn in a couple of very productive seasons for the 76ers as the team's resident floor-spacer off the bench, but he's spot-on when he said that Simmons playing could have given him a bigger shot to contribute more and succeed both individually and as a team player.
Instead, Simmons opted to hold out, affecting those making much less money than he's making, and the rest is history. Who knows what his future in the NBA will look like, if there is one.
With Niang having finally vented out what the city of Philadelphia has been preaching for years, 76ers fans definitely get the last laugh.