76ers 'Joel Embiid on Ben Simmons' reported trade request: 'I hope everyone is back'

The Ben Simmons rumors have just been dialed to 11 after the triple All-Star reportedly requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. Although it has been reported over the last few months that Simmons' time with the Sixers was coming to an end, this is the most final performance of it after he told the team that he would not be attending training camp in an attempt to force a switch to another team, per. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Although Simmons wants out, there have been no trades that have taken place yet. However, this has not prevented the potential landing sites from being analyzed. But as reports come in from the woodwork to describe the situation with Simmons and the Sixers, who have been painted as aggravated since the team’s second round in the playoff exit against the Atlanta Hawks, Sixers superstar Joel Embiid is here to silence some of that account.

Select the check box to confirm that you would like to subscribe.

Thank you for signing up!

An error occurred while processing your subscription.

Embiid took to Twitter Wednesday morning to dispute a report by Jeff Zillgitt from USA Today where a “gap” between Embiid and Simmons was described, forcing the Sixers to pick a side. Said Embiid partially:

“Stop using my name to push people’s agendas. I love and hate drama. I love playing with Ben. Statistics don’t lie. He’s a great player and we did not get the job done. It’s on me personally. I hope everyone is back because we know we are good enough to win. "

Embiid would not be the first player to downplay any drama that exists between him and a teammate on social media, but there is also no reason not to believe him. With all that has been reported about Simmons, a supposed rift between him and Embiid has not been played up as much as Simmons who took issue with a comment head coach Doc Rivers made after game 7 against the Hawks.

When asked if Simmons was qualified to be a point guard at the championship level, Rivers said, “I don’t know the answer right now.” Combine that with being made the hang of Sixers' failure in the off-season, and the trade rumors floating around go back to when James Harden was on the trading table, and you can see why Simmons would want out of Philadelphia.

But Embiid shows support for his teammate on social media and draws on his own experience with criticism from media and Philly fans, which he said he should do better.

“I have not forgotten it, but 2 years ago I was arched, people in Philly wanted me to be traded,” Embiid tweeted. “I even knocked them out. Only the right ones did not, but I just put in the work in that offseason to get better, because I knew I was not playing up to my potential. Philly fans, everyone needs to be better too. "

Embiid then followed that tweet by saying, “For the sake of clarity, I love the criticism, I love when I’m told I can do nothing. It makes me work harder to prove that everyone is wrong, but not everyone is built. such.”

Well, that last tweet could now be considered something of a dig in Simmons for not being “built like that,” but it could also just be a generalization about how he handles criticism. Either way, the situation in Philadelphia looks incredibly grim right now, and we’ll have to wait and see if the Sixers are able to meet Simmons' trade request, or if this saga will continue into the normal season.