Is Joel Embiid a great teammate? One source, who works with NBA players, says no.
Long-time basketball coach and player development guru David B. Thorpe, who now works as an analyst for TrueHoop.com, joined the popular Rights To Ricky Sanchez Podcast with Spike Eskin and Michael Levin.
"If you think Embiid is some kind of great teammate, congratulations we don't agree," Thorpe said. "I don't think he's the worst teammate ever. Having had 80 some players in the NBA, I have a little insight into how different superstars can be. I would rank him very low, so far. He's also young and very full of himself. He's allowed to grow up and I'm the first guy to always say that."
"Brett Brown is a nice man, I think he is a solid coach," Thorpe continued. "I do not think they knew what they were doing as a franchise in terms of executives, coaches, and player development. I don't think it's an accident Markelle Fultz had happened to him what had happened and at the same time, Ben Simmons flat lined. I don't think that's a coincidence, I think that's a result of the franchise they were playing for at the time."
Thorpe recently wrote a piece for TrueHoop.com called 'Healing Ben Simmons,' prompting his invite onto the podcast.
"If Ben Simmons were my student, or if I ran his team, I'd give him a big hug. Then I'd tell him straight to his face, 'Forget about what has happened, let's scheme together how to earn you your first MVP trophy,'" Thorpe writes in the story.
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Thorpe expanded on his opinions of Simmons and explained his thoughts.
Listen to the full Rights To Ricky Sanchez episode with Coach David Thorpe here.
