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It’s been exactly three weeks since the Philadelphia 76ers were defeated in an upset, Game Seven loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Regardless of what the Sixers brass may say about the situation, the Ben Simmons trade rumors will likely not go away until the point guard is moved, or we reach opening night of the 2021-2022 season and the point guard is in the starting lineup. One would think that the jokes surrounding Simmons’ difficulty shooting the orange would have run stale by now though, but Saturday night’s 2021 ESPY awards show proved that that is far from the case.
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Just a couple of weeks after the Washington Nationals’ official Twitter account trolled Simmons with a gem, ESPYs host, and “Captain America” actor Anthony Mackie delivered this burn.
The “thanks Ben Simmons” message from the girls was just the icing on the cake.
These Were the Actual ESPY Award Winners From the Basketball World
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GettyUConn women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers attends the 2021 ESPYs.
While that “special award” for “humanitarian work” involving the “playoff bricks” was obviously fake, there were plenty of high-profile athletes taking home hardware on Saturday night.
For basketball in particular, Stephen Curry took home the honor for Best NBA Player, Charlotte Hornets point guard and the Association’s Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball won the Best Breakthrough Athlete award, and Washington Wizards do-it-all guard Russell Westbrook won the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance for when he broke Oscar Robertson’s career triple-double record with 182. Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm was named the Best WNBA Player, UConn’s Paige Bueckers won the Best College Athlete award for women’s sports, and the NCAA men’s Final Four bout where Gonzaga defeated UCLA in overtime was named the Best Game.
Finally, Minnesota Lynx WNBA player Maya Moore earned the Arthur Ashe Courage award, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer won the honor for Best Coach, and Becca Murray won the award for Best Athlete With A Disability, Women’s Sports.
Some of the Latest Simmons Trade Rumors Involve Timberwolves, Pistons
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GettyPhiladelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons during a game in June.
By this point, it seems that more than half of the league has been mentioned in a connection to trading for Simmons in some capacity. In recent weeks, the Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, and Portland Trail Blazers have been among the squads rumored to be a good fit for the lefty.
Additionally, guys like Stephen A. Smith have claimed that a Simmons-to-Golden State move could be perfect and although it was turned down, the Indiana Pacers reportedly made an actual offer to Philly for Simmons. In the more recent days, some teams named that could land Simmons have included the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons.
Whatever ends up happening from here is anybody’s guess, but maybe the Sixers are starting to realize that the headache of dealing with the Simmons rumors and criticism weren’t worth holding onto him, and perhaps he should have been traded sooner.
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