Yesterday, we witnessed Ben Simmons join the Brooklyn Nets, dap up Kevin Durant, and then share a few laughs on the Brooklyn Nets bench with new teammate Andre Drummond later that night. It was undoubtedly a tough sight to see for 76ers basketball fans, who have endured the Ben Simmons dilemma over the last four years, and have dealt with him not playing basketball over the past six months.

Philadelphia has been keeping close tabs on Simmons, who as we all know, refused to take the court after embarrassing himself in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks. 

The story since then has been an exhausting tale of endless media reports, driven by each side’s agenda, trying to create a certain narrative to get the outcome they wanted while all along, it was clear that Ben Simmons had no intention of playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. 

It should also come as zero surprise that Ben Simmons was going through some things mentally. That was evident when he refused to play for the Philadelphia 76ers after a bad playoff series. You don’t need to be a doctor to recognize that with Simmons mentally, something wasn’t clicking. 

Either way, who gives a shit.

I understand that it’s pretty low for someone to “fake a mental illness” but again, no one knows if that’s the case or not. Now, we are all reading, and some of you are even engaging in endless online debates about what Ben Simmons was thinking mentally, if he was telling the truth, and if he wasn’t, how it was the most insulting thing in the world to people actually going through things mentally. 

While that makes sense to me, I don’t think you can have one side of the argument accusing him of being a fraud, while the other side saying you can’t criticize him. Neither side of that argument works. It’s an endless debate that will fall upon deaf ears on social media.

The reality is, no one knows anything that’s going on with Ben Simmons and today, will literally be the first time we hear him speak since his Game 7 press conference. 

To make things a million times worse, you have members of the national media now entering a conversation that has been on-going for 4 years thinking they understand the situation, and turning blame completely on 76ers fans.

How lazy.

The fact that Mina Kimes is going to come out today saying that Twitter “breaks her brain and heart on a daily basis” and that she “can’t imagine what Ben Simmons is going through” while she spent MONTHS criticizing him, is completely ridiculous.

She literally posted a video about TROLLING Ben Simmons.

Give me a fucking break, Mina. 

You want more? Here you go. 

Still not convinced? How about now? 

This only serves as a prime example of how stupid the entire mental health debate has become. It should never be stupid to talk about mental health, however both sides are hurting the situation. 

When members of the national media speak, just remember, they’re all frauds. 

Can’t forget the ESPY’s: 

And for Torrey Smith – to come out TODAY, of all days, with lazy talking points about Ben Simmons after he played in the city of Philadelphia AND demanded for him to be traded in October?

Cmon bro. Don’t. 

Regardless, Ben Simmons is going to speak to the media in roughly 30 minutes. I doubt he will say much of anything. Ben Simmons has never been much of a “talker” and I’m sure it will he will dish out some calculated talking points about how “he’s excited to be in Brooklyn” and how it was “time for a change” and that his “time came to an end in Philadelphia.”

On the other side, I’m sure we will continue to hear from people who are not from Philadelphia tell us how bad Philly fans are for “trashing” Ben Simmons though right? 

The fact of the matter is, this was NEVER about mental health or a single playoff series.

It’s about accountability. It’s about accepting that you need to be better and taking the necessary steps to get better. It’s about staring down adversity and handling it like a mature adult and a god damn professional athlete. 

No one outside of Philadelphia has the right to speak on this city and our relationship with Ben Simmons. They didn’t live through four years of 76ers basketball or five plus years of The Process. They have zero ground to stand on in this conversation. 

Ben Simmons is a loser. He’s a bad teammate, and he turned his back on PHILLY. That’s really the bottom line. Nothing else matters anymore. 

James Harden press conference at noon. Then we can finally move on.