The Philadelphia 76ers are still dealing with the aftermath of Ben Simmons refusing to follow coach Doc Rivers’ instruction on Tuesday at practice which led to him being removed from practice while also being suspended for Wednesday’s season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans.

At this point, everybody has heard the news and they all have their own takes on what is going on with the disgruntled star. It is obvious that he wants out and the Sixers want to fulfill his trade request, but he also has to show up and do his part in order to facilitate a trade.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith put the blame on Simmons for his specific situation as he said on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday:

It’s Ben Simmons. He has to go. You got to get rid of him. I’m not saying trade him for 20 cents on the dollar even 40 cents on the dollar, but you gotta, you got to get rid of him and here’s the reason why. I’m not trying to absolve the Sixers from blame here. I understand that there’s a level of culpability. Okay, I’m not saying that, but at the end of the day, here’s what it really comes down to is Ben Simmons played like trash in the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Atlanta Hawks offensively. Never defensively, he always shows up defensively, offensively, he played like trash. He was scared. He was a scared puppy out there. Okay and you’re coming across like you’re blaming everybody, but yourself. That’s really what this comes down to. There’s no way around that.

Simmons has been reported as not wanting to play in front of the Philadelphia fans and deal with the scrutiny that comes with playing in front of the home crowd in this city. To that, Smith says:

You got to suck it up, own up to what you didn’t do, and be hell bent on coming back and performing, and go hard. That’s all Philadelphia wants. He’s coming across like, ‘I don’t want to deal with that environment anymore’ and they consider it weak and pathetic and that you’re blaming them, and they’re gonna hold him accountable for it.

As the Sixers head into the new season on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see how they handle everything in games amid the ongoing saga. They still have a ton of talent led by superstar big man Joel Embiid and a lot of shooters.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!