Danny Green recalls avoiding Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons matchup in practice
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At this point, everybody knows about the drama between Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers toward the end of his time with the team. The 3-time All-Star wanted no part of the Sixers and he made it clear on a regular basis at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
When Simmons returned to the team in the middle of the preseason and he showed up to practice, he was matched up with Joel Embiid on the defensive end of the floor. The sparks that could have flown in that matchup would have been enough to light up the sky if Embiid would have gotten the ball.
Instead, to keep the peace, former Sixers guard Danny Green recalled not giving the big fella the ball on his podcast “Inside The Green Room”:
I had the opportunity to give Joel the ball against Ben. For the sake of keeping the energy well, I swung the ball across the floor away from that matchup because I don’t know what Joel–because Joel is known to have some chippy plays in him as you have seen throughout his career. He’s not the one to back down anything or hide his feelings or emotions and I know there was probably some frustration with him and who knows how it would have came out during that play, but I thought it was smarter and safer for us as a group to try and keep–if we were trying to bring him back–to move the ball to the other side of the floor. Had I thrown that ball into Joel? Ben and Joel had matched up? I really wish I had thrown the ball in and see what would have happened.
We hope you kept the peace with your families during the #Thanksgiving holiday like Danny tried to do with the #Sixers 🤣
Full episode — https://t.co/PAIiGqsGcJ pic.twitter.com/nzRlvXbwFD
— Inside The Green Room (@GreenRoomInside) November 25, 2022
Simmons recently opened up more about his relationship with Embiid as he kept it as normal as possible. He made his return to the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday as a member of the Brooklyn Nets and it seemed as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
However, with the way Green put it, it sounds like Embiid wanted nothing to do with his former star teammate. Whenever these two do match up on the floor, it will certainly be a clash to watch. The Nets will return to Philadelphia on Jan. 25.
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