Joel Embiid shares his love for Ben Simmons on Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast

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If you’re a fan of the Sixers, there’s a decent chance you’ve heard of both Joel Embiid and the Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast. 

Embiid, with a fitting Zoom name of “PROCESS,” joined Process pioneers Spike Eskin and Michael Levin for an interview from the NBA’s quasi-bubble.

There’s a lot of fun conversation in the podcast, from Embiid’s Rafael Nadal-like routine at the foul line to who he’d take in a 1-on-1 game between Isaiah Canaan and Hollis Thompson. Embiid did “plead the fifth” on a couple of uncomfortable questions but was mostly pretty candid. His comments about Ben Simmons were especially interesting. 

“You think about what he can accomplish in a few years, once he starts knocking those shots down regularly, it just takes him to a different level,” he said of Simmons. “To me, I like seeing my teammates succeed, especially when people are not expecting it, and it just makes me happy.”

While Embiid was honest about the fit with Simmons right now not being a perfect one, he’s excited about what they can accomplish together. 

I’ve always thought for us to win, once he starts understanding the spacing and knowing that when I have the ball on the block, to me the easiest way to get out of double teams is to have four other guys just spaced out on the perimeter, and let me do my thing,” he said. “And if I get doubled, I’m going to kick it out, and just be ready to shoot. He’s been doing that and I’m so happy that he finally now understands, and I think that’s what it takes for us to win a championship. 

“When you think about, we’ve only played — this is what, our third year together playing? We’ve only played for three years, and the potential that we have. And I love him and want to be with him for the rest of my career because I think he has still a lot of potential, and me too. We can get so much better than we are right now and I don’t see the point of us ever playing with somebody else. That’s someone I would love to be playing with for the rest of my career.

And, in case you were curious, Embiid is very much on board with Simmons’ idea of having virtual boos for Sixers “home games” at Disney World. 

“The other day I was talking to Ben,” he said, “and then I called (Sixers VP of communications) Patrick Rees. I’m like, ‘We need some boos in here.’ … When we’re home and fans start booing us, we’re like, ‘Oh, we’ve gotta pick it up. We don’t want to hear it, so I’ve gotta play hard, I’ve gotta make plays.’ When we’re in the bubble and if we’re down or we’re not playing hard, we need them to put the sound of boos from Philly fans in the bubble so we can get it going.”

You can check out the full podcast below. 



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