Maybe There’s Some Hope For Ben Simmons After Saying He’d Want To Get Traded Back To Philly
David Dow. Getty Images.Ben Simmons just did an interview which was probably the most we’ve ever heard from him before. The man is at a time in his NBA career where he desperately needs to change the narrative around him, so it makes sense that he’d be this open.
Greenie already blogged about the entire interview, so you can read that here:
But one part of the interview that will particularly caught my eye was when he was asked about his time in Philly. I’ll be totally honest—I didn’t expect that bastard to ever make me start to like him. But he may have done just that.
Source — I had a lot of fun there. It was time for me to go. When I did leave, it was good timing. Obviously, the injury and everything that was going on didn’t help. But I think it gave me a chance to really appreciate it. I’ll always have love for Philly. People always ask me like, ‘If you were to get traded again where you want it to be?’ I always say, ‘Just Philly. Philly is a second home to me.’ And in time, you learn and grow as people. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Philly. It was a crazy situation at the end, but it is what it is.
Lets be honest with ourselves here for a moment. Philly can’t be the easiest place in the world for a teenager to come into. It’s a sports-obsessed town that treats our teams like it’s life or death. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, and I’m not saying we don’t immediately support our guys. But it takes the right type of kid to come into this city without any real life experience and be a I’d to handle it. Ben Simmons wasn’t a kid anymore by the time he quit on this team, but he just never got a chance to learn how to handle that pressure.
Now that he’s had the chance to move on? He can gain some perspective. He might be on his way to finally taking some accountability for the crazy situation that Philly ended up being for him. Ben Simmons might just be growing up in front of our very eyes.
So if he can change, and we can change, then maybe everyone can change. And maybe a 2nd stint in Philly wouldn’t be the biggest shit storm of all time. At this point I would do taksies backsies on the Harden trade in a heart beat with how much of a joke that turned out to be.
All I’m saying is that whether it’s in Philly or not, maybe there’s a slight sliver of hope for Ben Simmons. It was never his ability that was holding him back. Just a lack of heart. Add some heart to his game and there’s something you can work with.