Sixers' Joel Embiid Won't Tolerate Ben Simmons Slander on Twitter

Philadelphia 76ers starting point guard Ben Simmons might be one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. Despite being a two-time All-Star who's currently in the midst of his fourth season in the league, Simmons has his fair share of doubters on both a national and local scale.

As Simmons hasn't unlocked the desired three-point shot -- or even a simple, consistent jump shot for that matter -- NBA fans tend to pile criticism onto Simmons rather than talk about everything else that he does well on the court.

At this point, the Sixers are tired of the Simmons slander because of his lack of scoring on the offensive end. And Sixers superstar Joel Embiid had enough of hearing about one of the very few cons surrounding Simmons' game this week.

As the big man took to Twitter to promote Simmons' name in the 2021 NBA All-Star voting, a comment in response to his tweet stood out to Embiid. Typically, Embiid stays off social media these days and keeps his focus on basketball, video games, and his family. However, on Friday night, he had time to respond to a comment he didn't like.

Well I guess you didn’t watch the game yesterday. His value goes beyond the stats. And Tobias has been dominating and consistent all season and the team is the #1 seed in the east
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) February 5, 2021

"Well, I guess you didn’t watch the game yesterday," Embiid wrote. "His value goes beyond the stats." That's been a consistent message coming from Embiid, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, and other members of the team.

On Thursday night, the Sixers faced the Portland Trail Blazers without Simmons. While Embiid singlehandedly dominated the matchup for a while, the 76ers didn't have enough juice to avoid a double-digit loss.

After the game, Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, and Coach Rivers all made it clear that Simmons' absence on both sides of the ball was notable. Although they couldn't solely blame his absence on the loss -- Thursday's game was just further proof that the Sixers are much better with Simmons on the court -- and tend to struggle a lot when he's not.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_