I never believed he needed a jumper

Joel Embiid on Ben Simmons: I never believed he needed a jumper originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Ben Simmons’ rise and fall with the Sixers has been well-documented. For the most part, his former teammate Joel Embiid has steered clear of really speaking his mind on the former #1 overall pick.

However, the topic of Simmons came up when the NBA MVP joined his current teammate, Tyrese Maxey, on his Maxey on the Mic Podcast.

For those of you who don’t remember, Simmons’ time in Philadelphia derailed during and after the 2021 postseason, as Simmons became less and less aggressive, haunted by the fear of getting fouled. In the 7-game second round series against the Atlanta Hawks, Simmons went just 15-for-45 from the charity stripe. In the fourth quarter of the seven games of the series, Simmons took a *total* of three shots from the floor, making none.

The Sixers fanbase placed the blame for the series loss squarely at Simmons’ feet, and the descent began. A months-long holdout ensued, and eventually a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, where he has struggled with injuries and inconsistent play.

With all that water under the bridge, it would be easy for Embiid to kick more dirt on Simmons. But he offered a take that offered a different perspective.

“I’ve always been one of those people that didn’t believe that [Simmons] didn’t actually need a jumper,” Embiid said of Simmons. “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…