It is well-known around the NBA that Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons wants a trade out of the City of Brotherly Love.
Simmons is represented by Klutch Sports, the same group that represents Los Angeles Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and NBA great Charles Barkley feels the group is out of control.
“I don’t believe that,” said Barkley. “You know how that group works. They try to trade their players to where they want to. They do it the way they want to. Anthony Davis – they had better deals from Boston for Anthony Davis, and I think maybe even New York, and they’re like, ‘No, he’s gonna go to L.A. and play with LeBron. He’s not gonna play.’ They just bully the league. At some point, a team or the league got to stand up to, ‘Wait a minute. I paid your guy. You can’t bully me to trade him and me taking some trash back.’ So I’m hoping somebody in the Sixers organization got some stones.”
Barkley himself was once the Sixers’ franchise player during the late 1980s and early ’90s. In 1992, he demanded a trade out of Philly since the Sixers had become a weak team, and was sent to the Phoenix Suns.
Although some have criticized Klutch Sports for what Barkley talked about, the fact is that superstars demanding trades to certain teams or cities has been going on for decades.
In the 1970s, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was tired of playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he asked to be traded to either the Lakers or New York Knicks. He ended up with the Purple and Gold.
The Sixers have reportedly tried to deal Simmons already this offseason, but have found no takers so far.
To end the Simmons fiasco, Philly will likely have to lower its asking price for the 6-foot-11 point guard.
