'Rich and weak': AFL star slams Ben Simmons' teammate over brutal dig
AFL star Christian Petracca has slammed Sixers ace Joel Embiid over his sly dig at Ben Simmons after his team was knocked out of the NBA playoffs.
Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers were unceremoniously bundled out of the NBA playoffs after losing at home to Atlanta in the deciding game seven of their playoff series.
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The Eastern Conference semi-finals were once again a roadblock for the Sixers, who finished the regular season with the top seed but were booed off the court after the 103-96 defeat.
Simmons, in particular, faces an uncertain future after a largely disappointing playoff run, during which his shooting struggles were exposed in particularly brutal fashion.
The Australian star finished with five points, eight rebounds and 13 assists - but it was an ugly moment late in the fourth quarter which summed up the 76ers' frustrations with the 24-year-old.
After posting up Hawks rival Danilo Gallinari, a spin to the baseline looked to have earned Simmons a wide open layup - but he instead passed it off to teammate Matisse Thybulle, who was fouled on his layup attempt.
Embiid raised the moment in his post-match press conference and appeared to take a sly dig at Simmons after he claimed it could have been the turning point in the decider.
“I thought the turning point was when we ... I don’t know how to say it ... is when we had an open shot and we made one free throw," Embiid said.
AFL star takes shot at Embiid
While many fans took aim at Simmons over the incident, Demons star Petracca hit out at Embiid.
He appeared to claim it was hypocritical of Embiid to target Simmons in Game 7.
“8 turnovers twice in the series and wasn’t clutch? Maybe look at your own game before you blame someone else,” Petracca wrote.
“Bit rich and weak, @JoelEmbiid."
Despite Petracca's defence of Simmons, it was telling when Sixers coach Doc Rivers backed the Australian to address his shooting weakness in his post-game press conference, but crucially held back when asked a telling question.
“Obviously, he struggled from the free throw line, and that became a factor in this series. There’s no doubt about that," Rivers said.
"I still believe in him, but we have work to do. We’re going to have to get in the gym, put a lot of work in, and go forward.”
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