Oh how the mighty have fallen. Ben Simmons was once the next big thing. We fell for it here. Well some of us, myself included, did. Coming out of LSU Ben Simmons was “The next Magic Johnson”. He was the messiah here in Philly. At one point there were people who said Ben would be better than Joel Embiid. Now? The Nets won’t even let him on the Court. And now he and his agency, Klutch Sports, are parting ways. Which makes sense, because Klutch Sports represents basketball players. He doesn’t play basketball.
[Source: Ramona Shelburne]
Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons and Klutch Sports have mutually decided to part ways, sources told ESPN. Simmons had been represented by Klutch since he came into the NBA as the No. 1 pick in 2016. The agency negotiated his five-year $177 million extension in 2019.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 17, 2023
Ben is not our problem anymore. The Sixers managed to get out from under that burden and got James Harden for their troubles. But this is just the latest example of how Ben Simmons was the problem here, not the Sixers or their fans. We as a fanbase took so much heat during that whole saga of Ben refusing the play the sport he gets paid to play. The National media played its part in that. We got called mean and were told we ran him out of town. Now what? Looks like he creates issues everywhere he goes.
Ben will go down as the oddest thing from the Process Sixers. And that is saying a lot. This is the team that dealt with a GM (or his Wife) trashing Sixers players on a burner account. It dealt with Markelle Fultz forgetting how to shoot after college. It dealt with some of the worst rosters ever put together on an NBA Basketball court. But Ben Simmon’s fall from grace takes the cake.
We all know the story by now. There is no need to relitigate him passing up a dunk, costing them the game, and then pouting all off-season. As I said, not our problem anymore. The Nets are the ones now who have to pay the guy to not play.
What is next for Ben Simmons? Who knows? But being dropped by what has become the largest agency for representing NBA Players certainly does not bode well for his future in the NBA. Good luck with that Ben. Fortunately for him, playing basketball does not seem to be something he values anyway. Meanwhile, the Sixers are making a push for the one seed. They are playing some of the best basketball we have seen in the Embiid era. Amazing how much better a team can look with a PG willing to shoot the basketball.