Sixers’ Georges Niang refuses to hold back on Ben Simmons, saying he ‘kinda handicapped us’
Niang added that it was hard for the Sixers to maintain the important team aspect of winning.
Georges Niang kept it real about Ben Simmons.
Appearing on The John Kincade Show on 97.5 FM Friday morning, the 76ers power forward didn’t hold back regarding his former teammate.
“Ben Simmons kinda handicapped us at the beginning of last year,” Niang said of Simmons’ refusal to play while forcing a trade. “I wasn’t going to say it, but now ... you know what I mean.”
Niang was explaining why the Sixers are at 39-19 and four wins ahead of last season’s pace through 58 games.
On Feb. 10, 2022, the Sixers acquired perennial All-NBA guard James Harden and Paul Millsap from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks.
That ended a five-month standstill after Simmons told Sixers managing partner Josh Harris, president of basketball operation Daryl Morey, general manager Elton Brand, and coach Doc Rivers that he no longer wanted to be a Sixer and refused to report to training camp.
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Simmons did eventually show up to two practices, but didn’t engage with teammates and was kicked out of the second practice after he refused to participate in a drill. The point guard was fined for missing 54 games and other discretions. He later recouped a portion of the money.
“When you … are building rosters. I’m talking from a general manager standpoint, I don’t know how much he makes but it’s a max contract, so you immediately take that off the books [when Simmons says], ‘I’m not playing,’” Niang said. “Now, you have to figure out where other role players have to set up and replace passing, dribbling, rebounding, defense.”
One the hosts interrupted Niang, noting that he didn’t say shooting.
“Yeah, my point,” Niang responded of Simmons’ poor shooting.
He added that people don’t understand how important the team aspect is to success. Niang also noted Rivers does a good job of getting players to buy into the team.
“So last year was difficult, because you didn’t know who you had,” he said. “Then the trade deadline is coming up, and everybody is walking in like, ‘Who’s being attached to him that’s going [into a trade]?’ So you had that uneasy feeling.
“So now [this season] it’s like we did trade Matisse [Thybulle in a four-team deal]. We got Jalen [McDaniels]. But you know who you’re going to war with every single night.”
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While Harden is this season’s league leader in assists at 10.7 per game, Simmons is struggling to find a role in Brooklyn.
He’s averaging career lows in points (6.9), rebounds (6.3), assists (6.1) and minutes (26.3). Simmons also is shooting a career-worst 43.9% from the foul line. He has two years and $78 million left on his contract.
When it was brought to Niang’s attention that Simmons has fallen out of the rotation in Brooklyn, he responded: “That’s not my business.”