Imagine you played for the Philadelphia 76ers in the year 2021. Coming off a long playoff run, your team finished the regular season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and your franchise superstar is putting up MVP-caliber numbers. Sure, your team’s second-best player faltered under the bright lights of the playoffs, but he’s only 24 years old and under contract for the next few years. You will be back.
Cue the drama.
Ben Simmons starts a hellacious feud with your front office over the offseason that bleeds into the regular season. “Okay,” you think, “it’ll be over soon and we can get back to winning basketball games.”
Except, it doesn’t end soon. Simmons’ camp requests a trade, but your GM insists on getting a large return. Neither side budges for nearly four months.
Meanwhile, the team plays great even without Simmons. Your franchise player is once again in the MVP conversation, and as the NBA trade deadline nears, the 76ers are just one game from being the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Ben Simmons has all but abandoned the team, and despite everything, you’re right back where you left off.
Even with all of your team’s success, the NBA media only focuses on one thing: Ben. Constantly, you are berated with questions about the guy.
What’s going through your head? Do you really want Simmons to come back? Are you hoping he gets traded so you can show the world what they’ve been missing this whole time? Do you even like the guy anymore?
The NBA Trade Deadline approaches
Neither camp has moved an inch. 76ers GM Daryl Morey comes out saying he’d rather drag this out four years than get a subpar return in a trade. He gets lunch with Simmons’ representation. Nothing happens.
Then, BAM! Hours before the NBA Trade Deadline, it’s announced that Ben Simmons will be traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. Except, you were also packaged with this Ben Simmons guy in the damn trade you probably wanted all along. Pack your bags and sublease your apartment. You’re moving to Brooklyn because a young star couldn’t see the bigger picture. Even worse, you’re going to have to actually share the floor with him again.
Welcome to the Seth Curry Experience
“We play a fun style of basketball here,” said Curry after his debut as a Brooklyn Net. Adding, “the energy was great from the moment we got here.”
He says after a 23-point performance while Simmons isn’t playing. The language Curry used was intentional, as a way to get the media off his back. Seth Curry has probably gotten pretty used to that by now.
In these situations, players are often told to “be a good soldier.” However, we can’t act like NBA players are robots when they so clearly have the same emotions as anyone else (it’s how we ended up in this situation in the first place, after all). No matter what Curry says, part of him has to be ticked off at the move.
With the Brooklyn Nets, Seth Curry has a real chance to win a championship this season. He’s a pro’s pro and likely won’t say anything to the press that will end up on SportsCenter until long after his career is over. That doesn’t mean he’s happy about the situation. It means he’s a good teammate.
His brother, Steph Curry, had this to say about the move, “I know he was kind of caught in the crossfire of Philly making a move like that. Because he loved it there, loved playing there and they were playing well. But obviously, you’ve got to make that move.”
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