Former 76ers teammate rips Ben Simmons for last season's antics

It's been a little more than a year since the Philadelphia 76ers traded away disgruntled point guard Ben Simmons, but a former teammate still holds a grudge over how the three-time All-Star left. 

Appearing on 975 The Fanatic's "The John Kincade Show," Sixers forward Georges Niang said Simmons "handicapped" the team by holding out before a February trade during the 2021-22 season.   

"When you're building rosters — I'm talking from a general manager's standpoint — I don't know how much he makes, but it's a max contract, so you immediately take that off the books," Niang said. "Then you have to figure out where other role players have to step up, replace the passing, dribbling, rebounding, defense."

When Kincade pointed out that Niang didn't include shooting on his list of skills needed to replace Simmons' production, Niang slyly responded, "Exactly my point." 

Niang said the uncertainty of Simmons' status with the team during his lengthy holdout rubbed him and his teammates the wrong way and likely affected the room in Philly. But now, Niang says he and the Sixers are in a much better place with Simmons in Brooklyn. 

"Last year was difficult cause you didn't know who you had. You had that uneasy feeling," Niang said. "We did trade Matisse [Thybulle], and we got Jalen [McDaniels], but you know who you're going to war with every single night. I feel comfortable with the pieces that we have cause we do have some great players in this locker room." 

It's hard to argue with Niang. The third-place Sixers (39-19) have the fourth-best record in the NBA and are only three games back of the Boston Celtics (43-17) for the Eastern Conference lead. Meanwhile, Simmons last played for the Nets before the All-Star break and was recently removed from the team's rotation entirely by head coach Jacque Vaughn. 

When the topic of Simmons' benching came up, Niang said, "That ain't none of my business."