The Philadelphia 76ers are riding a five-game win streak that has propelled them to a 21-16 record and fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Things are going their way for now in what has been a weird season for everybody.
At the forefront of Philadelphia’s season has been the Ben Simmons drama. The 25-year-old three-time All-Star requested a trade in August, but there has been little movement toward a deal since. He began the season with a holdout, returned to the team in the preseason, but has not yet played for the Sixers 37 games into the season.
While that could cause drama in the locker room, Seth Curry says the Sixers are doing just fine. Despite obviously missing a big talent, the team’s chemistry has been going swimmingly.
Curry hopped on the “All The Smoke” podcast with former NBA champions Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. When asked about chemistry and the Simmons drama, he replied:
It’s been solid. Outside of Ben, everybody came back who was on the team last year for the most part so we know each other; Chemistry’s been solid. Ben hasn’t been around the team too much, so it’s not like he’s coming in and out of practice, in and out of games, messing up the chemistry. We kinda know who we got. Obviously, we’re missing a big piece from last year, but we know what we got, and we’re trying to make it work with the talent we have and it’s been an up and down season. Obviously, guys have been in and out of the lineup with COVID. That’s the biggest thing chemistry-wise.
Curry added the players don’t even discuss what’s going on with Simmons. They know who they have, and coach Doc Rivers has the team focused as Curry told Barnes and Jackson:
It’s solid in the locker room. The only time we talked about it was obviously Doc addressed it early in the season the first day of training camp and then the only time we talk about is when the media come in. That Philly media, that’s all they want to talk about is drama when we get in front of them. Obviously, they’re doing their job, but when we step on the floor, like I said, we knew who we had in the locker room. We knew who was gonna show up to play every day and we’re trying to make it work. Like I said, we’ve kind of treat it like a long term injury. We knew Ben wasn’t gonna be there for the start of the season. You gotta adjust.
The Sixers definitely miss Simmons on the floor. He can push the pace as an elite playmaker and ability to rebound. However, it is pretty clear the Sixers are moving on and credit has to go to Rivers for keeping the locker room tightly knit.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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