Warriors' Growing Drama Compared to 76ers' Ben Simmons Disaster

The Philadelphia 76ers are at the forefront of the media, and it has nothing to do with anyone on the current roster. 

A comparison regarding Ben Simmons and his contractual issues with the 76ers resurfaced after a report of the Golden State Warriors and their conflict with Kristaps Porzingis. According to ESPN, the Warriors are withholding money from Porzingis and his 20 million contract due to not fulfilling his obligations to the team. Now, the comparison revolved around how the 76ers refused to pay Ben Simmons as he refused to show up to training camp and eventually demanded a trade.

While the action of the organization is similar, everything else is completely off base. First of all, Porzinigis wants to be with the Warriors; his only issue is that his health is preventing him from doing so. Simmons just wanted to completely wash his hands with this team and decided he had no reason to show up to training camp. Another major difference here: Porzingis may be contemplating retirement, while Simmons just wanted to go somewhere that was willing to coddle him.

Let’s not forget Simmons’ issues with the team were surrounding his problems with how he performed throughout the playoffs. Simmons caught some flack after a playoff elimination game against the Atlanta Hawks in 2021 that saw him refuse to take a layup and then go out there and say he didn’t believe it was a good shot selection. Later down the line, it was revealed that his teammates, including Joel Embiid, didn’t approve of the way he played in that series. 

There’s no way someone can sit there and compare the two situations and ignore the way Simmons acted out against the entire franchise like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Simmons had control over what was going on with his situation; Porzingisa did not.  Furthermore, this has been a lingering concern for Porzingis, as he dealt with this undisclosed health issue dating back to last season, and he still made an effort to go out there and try to help out his teammates.

That is the glaring difference between these two teams. Simmons stopped caring about his teammates and made it about himself, while Porzingis believed in himself and that the franchise would do right by him during this difficult time. The comparison of salaries being withheld makes sense. But make no mistake about it, one player cared while the other did not.