Charles Barkley says Ben Simmons will never play against for the 76ers, as Philadelphia sports fans will "never forgive him."
Barkley was stopped by a TMZ reporter at LAX and was asked about the Simmons situation.
"He's never gonna play another game in Philly, the fans will not forgive him," Barkley said. "They gotta make a trade, you gotta move on from a bad relationship. I mean to not use—and Joel Embiid has been playing great this year, so they're wasting his talents. But they've got to make a decision, but Ben Simmons never gonna play in Philly again. The fans will never forgive him. And I know the fans well. I thought my name was Charles Barkley son of a b**** for a long time there."
Barkley isn't sure of the exact trade that needs to be made, but says Daryl Morey and the 76ers are "being stupid," as the February 10th NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching.
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"You call the Boston Celtics, the Houston Rockets, the Sacramento Kings. I mean there are some good trades out there, but the Sixers are being stubborn and just wasting Joel Embiid's great season," Barkley said. "They're just being stupid."
Simmons is reportedly willing to sit out the entire season, if it takes that long for the Sixers to trade him.
The 6th placed 25-18 Sixers have won eight of their last 10 games and Embiid has been completely dominant of late, scoring 30+ points in 10 of his last 11 games and 20+ points 14 straight games.
For the season, Embiid is averaging 27.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists (career-high), 1.1 steals (career-high), 1.3 blocks, 2.9 turnovers (career-best), while shooting 48.4 FG% / 38.0 3P% (career-high) / 81.4 FT%.
Embiid's 29.54 player efficiency rating is third best in the NBA behind only Nikola Jokic (32.32) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (31.18). Embiid leads the NBA in usage rate (35.4) and his third in player impact estimate (20.2).