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Dwight Howard defends Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons' former teammate doesn't like how the Sixers teammate has been treated. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers' Dwight Howard defends former Sixers teammate Ben Simmons

Originally posted on Game 7  |  By Charles Kruger  |  Last updated 11/10/21

The Philadelphia 76ers’ ongoing cold war with Ben Simmons is no closer to a resolution today than it has been at any point in the last few months.

Simmons continues to stay away from the team, citing mental health issues. The front office continues to try to get him back onto the court, with minimal results.

This week, former 76ers big man Dwight Howard weighed in with his thoughts on the situation.

“Well you know, I felt like a part of me, I could see that in being as far as what happened with was happening with Ben when I was in Orlando,” he told Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report.

“It was some similar things happening. Now I just didn’t like the fact that whatever was going on on the inside had to be made public knowledge. Obviously, I’m there with Ben a lot, he’s one of my closest friends, so I was upset to hear all the things that was being said about him… When we played the Hawks and we lost, I was upset at Ben on that play. I wanted him to dunk the ball, tear a rim down, but he didn’t do it and it wasn’t just his fault. So my thing was we can’t just blame him.”

Simmons has one team that he’d love to end up with, but the Sixers are intent on holding out for the best deal possible. This resulted in the Golden State Warriors hanging up the phone on them during their last conversation.

Many thought that this situation would be remedied when the new season began, but clearly that won’t be the case.

Simmons will get traded at some point. But when precisely that will happen remains to be seen.

This article first appeared on Game 7 and was syndicated with permission.

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