The Philadelphia 76ers have had two elephants in the room, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Some believe the two can’t co-exist and are doomed to ultimately separate. Others feel the Sixers have yet to manifest the true ceiling of the two stars playing together.
New head coach Doc Rivers now has a chance to show what he can do with Simmons and Embiid. One of Doc’s former players, Kendrick Perkins, spoke to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson live about the impact Rivers could have on Simmons.
(around 10:00 in the interview)
Doc Rivers is gonna be that guy who puts Ben Simmons on the low block and actually space Joel (Embiid). He’s gonna use Ben Simmons in the high pick-and-rolls and having him go to either get a deep seal where he can shoot his jump hook or be a lob threat to the basket.
And then he’s gonna use Ben Simmons to be that guy playing the dunker’s spot. And then on top of that in transition… I can hear Doc right now yelling at Ben Simmons about push it, push it, push it.
Perkins touched on Rivers’ ability to make Joel Embiid better by holding him accountable, calling Doc in Philly “a match made in heaven.”
Going back to Simmons, Perkins refers to him as a “baby LeBron” and praised him as a “dog” that doesn’t get enough credit. He gave Simmons credit for earning recognition as a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year last season.
