Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons has been an easy punching bag for sports talk shows for what has transpired during the 2021-22 season.
Simmons has yet to play for Philadelphia after requesting a trade from the team in late August. He began the season with a holdout. He showed up in the preseason, but he hasn’t played, citing mental issues.
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid has been playing out of his mind, averaging 29.0 points and 10.8 rebounds, and has the Sixers sixth in the East just 2.5 games out of the top spot despite the Simmons saga, injuries and COVID-19 issues.
In January, he is averaging a robust 34.5 points and is shooting 54.8% from the floor.
Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal criticized Simmons for his actions saying he would rather have Tobias Harris out there anyway:
I just hate when y’all cry over spilled milk. To me, the other guy is a good player, but he ain’t all that great. What’s he average? 18? Next man up cool. Who’s the best player with me now who can average 18? That gentleman’s name is Tobias Harris. I rather play with Tobias Harris anyway. He has heart, he ain’t gonna quit in the fourth quarter, he gonna shoot him in you know, even if he’s shooting a bad percentage from the free throw line. The other guy? Forget him. This is what we got. … The other guy? He don’t want to be there; he ain’t there. Forget him. I want Tobias Harris.
O’Neal was then asked if Embiid should win the MVP award:
I just hope Jo don’t get penalized because over the last 10/15 years, it’s been clear to me what the definition of Most Valuable Player is.
Does he have your vote right now?
He does have my vote, but there’s some cuckoos like Charles (Barkley) and Kenny (Smith) that say, ‘Oh, this team has a better record. So this guy’s MVP.’ I always thought Most Valuable Player was a singular award, which means you’re the baddest guy in the league, and the baddest guy in the league right now is Joel Embiid, but they’re in sixth place. So hopefully the media doesn’t penalize them if another guy who’s close and his team has a better record.
"The baddest guy in the league right now is Joel Embiid."@SHAQ makes his case for who should win MVP 🗣 @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/2nPKsmD9Fa
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 26, 2022
O’Neal has a point to how the MVP award works in recent years. The award normally goes to the best player on the best team. The one exception was Russell Westbrook with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 when he won the award despite the Thunder being just the No. 6 seed in the West.
Embiid will likely have to lift the Sixers further up in the standings in order to be seriously considered for the award, but his individual play has been outstanding since Christmas Day.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
