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Stephen A. Smith Accuses Ex-76ers $177 Million Star of 'Stealing Money'

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Malik Brown | Last updated Apr 22, 2025 12:23 PM ET

The Philadelphia 76ers did not have the season that they expected before the year started. The expectations were high after the free agency they had, and signing Paul George to be a big three alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey was supposed to take them to the next level. To end the season, none of those players were on the court for the 76ers because of injuries.

The 76ers finished 24-58 and 13th in the Eastern Conference this season, and the hope is that they can come back healthy next season and dominate. They've had some major changes happen throughout the past few years as they try to stay amongst the top of the East, and one of them was trading away Ben Simmons.

Years later and Simmons is now on the Los Angeles Clippers, where he's coming off the bench. Before the playoffs started, Ty Lue said that he had to remind Simmons to be aggressive and look to score when he's on the court, something that he struggled with when he was on the 76ers.

Stephen A. Smith caught wind of Lue's comments and didn't have anything nice to say about Simmons.

"The fact that Ty Lue said what he said is just more evidence that Ben Simmons has been stealing money," Smith said on First Take.

"Ben Simmons has been stealing money." @stephenasmith on Clippers coach Tyronn Lue asking Ben Simmons to be a "scoring threat" against the Nuggets pic.twitter.com/lSc2yTX1cC
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 18, 2025

Simmons signed a five-year, $177 million deal with the 76ers in 2020, and some would say that he didn't live up to the contract due to his lack of aggressiveness on the court, and he also dealt with injuries.

Simmons was waived by the Nets this season and signed with the Clippers.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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