Who was harder to play with, James Harden or Ben Simmons? Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid weigh in.
Despite an awkward exit, the two Sixers stars believe Simmons is “the one that got away.”
James Harden and Ben Simmons are two of the most controversial Sixers players in recent memory.
Simmons was supposed to be one of the key rewards for “The Process,” but he never lived up to his first-overall pick potential, and the relationship between Simmons and the Sixers deteriorated until he was finally traded for Harden.
Harden was supposed to come in as the missing piece to bring the Sixers over the top, but his tenure with the team had a similarly messy end. Harden requested a trade in June and was eventually traded to the Clippers in late October.
Now, with both players gone, Tyrese Maxey welcomed teammate Joel Embiid on his podcast, Maxey on the Mic, to talk about which of the two infamous Sixers he felt was more challenging to play with.
“Who do you think it was harder to play with, Ben or James?” Maxey asked Embiid. “Because it was difficult. Both were difficult.”
“Did you have a hard time playing with them?” Embiid asked with a laugh.
“It was different for me,” Maxey said. “When [Simmons] was here, I wasn’t a part of the offense, really. I didn’t really play with Ben that much, I was always coming in for him. I played with Dwight [Howard], so I never played with Ben. James was different for me as well. I also never had freedom to be on the ball like I am now, so I always played a role those two or three years. ... [To Embiid:] You’re the best player on the team, always since you stepped foot in there. Me, I was playing, when James came, I’m just a role guy. I don’t have no say-so. It’s Year 2 for me, I’m just happy to be here. You know what I’m saying? It was different for sure because of how he played, but you know me. I want to play.”
Embiid played alongside Simmons for Simmons’ entire career in Philadelphia since the guard was drafted in 2016. He also won the MVP during Harden’s tenure with the team. Unlike Maxey, Embiid has been the focal point of the offense his entire time with the Sixers, but Embiid said he didn’t find either player too challenging to play with.
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“I don’t think it was hard to play with any of them,” Embiid said. “The only thing that I’ll say about each of them is, I’ve always been one of those people that didn’t believe that [Ben] actually needed a jumper. Like he was so good, he’s just a monster, like just physically. Like someone is fricking 6-11 just running up and down the floor faster than whatever. …
“So like I never believed that he actually needed a jumper. I just believed that if he could find a way to get his free throws to 75-80% that would have changed everything. Because if you think about it, if he believed that he could make shots, what would he do? He would keep attacking, attacking, attacking, and never stopping. And then what would the defense have to do? He was already such a great playmaker, making the game easy for everybody else.”
Maxey followed up by saying he thinks if Simmons ever returned to the Sixers and played alongside him, Simmons might have seen more success in Philadelphia and that he could have elevated the team. Embiid agreed.
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“I’ll always think about it,” Embiid said. “If that could have been figured out — me, you, and him. If you think about it, what he did and what he added to the game, obviously, you don’t need him to score. He was going to give you 15, 16, 17 every single game just by being aggressive and attacking the rim. But if you add that combination of someone who can guard one through five and a point guard who can push it in transition and just attack anybody and beat anybody off the dribble, and you put that with a combination of [Maxey’s] speed and me, rolling, short rolling, and fricking dominating ... I think that’s the perfect match.
“You’ve got one guy that’s so unselfish — all of us are so unselfish, but you’ve got that one guy who all he wants to do is pass, get assists, get guys going, and you add that with [Maxey’s] scoring ability and my scoring ability. Defensively, me and him, we were always clicking. Every single year, it didn’t matter who else was on the floor, top five every single year. You add that type of guy, I think that’s the one that got away.”
Maxey and Embiid won’t see their former teammates for a bit. The Sixers’ next game against Simmons and the Nets isn’t until Feb. 2 — and they don’t play Harden’s Clippers again until March 24.