Ben Simmons Responds to Sixers' Internal Criticism With Solid Play

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons is no stranger to criticism. Ever since he was drafted as the number one overall pick in 2016, the former LSU product was under scrutiny for his inability -- or unwillingness to shoot the ball.

Fast forward to his third* season in the NBA, and Simmons is still dealing with the same kind of slander. While Simmons hasn't precisely unlocked his offensive potential just yet, he has proven that he's slowly working on perfecting his game on that side of the ball.

Unfortunately, he's just not improving at the pace that everybody wants him to. And it's beginning to frustrate not only the fans -- but some of his teammates as well. As of late, the Sixers have had some internal issues regarding a lack of intensity, and accountability.

Multiple players, including Simmons, have acknowledged the team isn't always giving their best effort, and often tend to coast through matchups. While players such as Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, and Simmons have vaguely called the entire team out, Sixers' center Joel Embiid took his words a different direction.

No, Embiid doesn't see intensity as an issue for the 76ers. Rather, he sees his teammate's unwillingness to shoot the ball as the biggest issue for the team. Now, Embiid wouldn't come outright and call Simmons out by his name to the media -- but the subliminal message was quite obvious about who the big man was talking about.

"We've got to help each other, even if it means being outside of your comfort zone to help the team win," Embiid said after practice on Thursday. "Meaning that, if you've got to space and shoot it, you've got to do it."

Thursday wasn't the first time Embiid made it obvious he wants his point guard to shoot the ball, but Simmons' follow-up performance to that criticism could help it be the last time Embiid takes a dig at his teammate.

Despite taking a ten-point loss to the Rockets, the Sixers should at least feel good about what they got out of Ben Simmons in that matchup. It wasn't like he was shooting lights out from mid-to-long range or anything -- but taking a season-high of 20 shots in 42 minutes helped Simmons become an important piece in the scoring column.

Simmons led the Sixers with 29 points, which ended up being his second-highest point total for the year. His 13 rebounds and 11 assists made it another triple-double on the season as well. Granted, one outstanding performance in a loss won't patch up all internal issues for the Philadelphia 76ers. There's still a lot of work this team needs to get done.

However, at the very least, the team can come away from their tough four-game stint, potentially feeling like they can go on a solid run as the Sixers' young star, Ben Simmons, finds himself becoming more productive on the offensive side of the ball. It's going to take a team effort to bounce back, but at least Simmons is stepping up after being the focal point of a teammate's subliminal message.