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Over his last 15 games, Ben Simmons is averaging 22/9/8 with 2.1 steals and 66.1 True Shooting Percentage. He also attempted a season high 22 field goal attempts in their last game which was a win over the Clippers.

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His average of 7.4 free throw attempts over the last 15 games (making 70%) is the best run of free throw shooting he's had in his career, in terms of efficiency AND volume. Even when looking back further through the last 30 games, he’s still averaged 6.4 attempts. He's now at a career-high in free throw attempt rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt) for the season.

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This also makes Simmons a nightmare for opponents to deal with in pick-and-rolls. He can hound ball handlers outside and reach around screens to contest, or switch and break up potential rolls or mismatches for opposing centers inside.

What makes Simmons’ ‘switchy-ness’ even more impressive is that he’s often covering the top perimeter threat on the opposing team. According to another metric by Krishna Narsu, at this point in the season, Simmons ranks 2nd in the NBA in possessions guarding an opponent’s number one scoring option.

Simmons' responsibility — in terms of handling top perimeter assignments and dealing with multiple positions — is as tough as anyone's, and he’s still defending on the ball at an elite level.

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He's also been more disruptive off the ball than ever. After being prone to more lapses in this area in the past, he’s been more engaged and aware this season. He has the speed and reach to explode into passing lanes, and sharper anticipation to read plays ahead of time. He’s leading the league in steals with 2.2 per game and ranks 2nd in deflections per game at 4.1.

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He's averaging 36.3 minutes per game and ranks 3rd in the NBA in total minutes at 1,926.

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After putting up 39 points and 16 rebounds to lead the 76ers to a 112-104, overtime victory over the Nets without Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid declared he is the best player in the world and that the aggression with which he played against Brooklyn was a carryover from the way he played in Sunday's All-Star Game in Chicago.

"For sure," Embiid said. "The All-Star Game was fun. Being there in the fourth quarter, doing my thing at the end of the game, I thought it was great.

"But the All-Star Game, just proving I'm here, I belong, and being the best player in the world, I just intend to keep coming out every single night and just play hard and trying to get wins and just go out and try to win a championship."

Thursday's game was a roller coaster of emotions -- and, in many ways, a microcosm of Philadelphia's regular season thus far. The Sixers jumped out to a 22-6 lead over the Nets, who found out before the game that All-Star guard Kyrie Irving will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, only for Brooklyn to roar back with an absurd 44-8 run from the 5:45 mark of the first quarter until there was 3:09 left in the second.

At that point, when the Sixers called timeout after a basket by Nets guard Joe Harris made the score 50-30, a cascade of boos rained down upon them, and it looked as if they were on their way to their third home loss of the season.

"[I was] really just trying to find answers to some of the problems," Sixers coach Brett Brown said afterward.

Luckily for him and the Sixers, they had one very large solution: give the ball to Embiid, and get out of the way. Philadelphia eventually managed to climb out of the hole it dug for itself thanks to Embiid's extremely broad shoulders, as he took just one 3-pointer and instead spent the game mauling whomever the Nets tried to throw his way inside.

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Sixers’ Brett Brown once told medical staff everybody would be fired because Joel Embiid was out of shape

There’s been several tales about Joel Embiid’s poor eating habits during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. His love for Shirley Temples, his infatuation with french fries and his endless appetite are some, but not too long ago, head coach Brett Brown feared his own job due to the staff’s inability to get him in playing shape.

Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report told this anecdote in his new book “Tanking to the Top” (h/t Henry Abbott of TrueHoop), noting just how bad Embiid’s fast food addiction alarmed Brown and the rest of the coaching staff.

As a rookie in 2018, Landry Shamet had the task of ordering food for the team. Embiid’s special order was to be delivered in a separate bag. It was “four [Chick-Fil-A] spicy chicken sandwiches, four large fries, four cookies and cream milkshakes—in its own separate bag.”

Embiid would then go on to devour that on the plane.

At the time, the big man was out injured, but the medical staff was still tasked with ensuring he’d be ready once he was healthy enough to ho. Upon seeing him move during his rehabilitation, Brown shouted at the team’s medical staff: “we’re all going to get fired because Joel’s out of shape.”

This Chick-Fil-A story had surfaced at the time and the Sixers tried their best to push it under the rug, saying the food in the bag wasn’t all for him.

“I heard that summer Joel did some media tour where he was like I was just joking, that was just rookie hazing,” Weitzman told Abbott. “It wasn’t rookie hazing. What’s the rookie hazing? [Shamet’s] already going.”

Quote (Sixers @ Feb 21 2020 11:35am)

Same Joel, same. Chick-Fil-A is hard to put down.

Quote (Winlaw @ Feb 21 2020 11:40am)

Fat fuck lmao. Don't be surprised when he's outta shape come playoff time and looks gassed late in games :rolleyes:

Quote (Sixers @ Feb 21 2020 11:45am)

#DidYouKnowFlow:

The Sixers are 18-3 when Joel Embiid attempts three three-pointers or fewer in a game. They’re 8-11 when he shoots four or more.

Quote (DeRozan @ Feb 21 2020 10:39am)

Jojo thinks he’s the best player in the NBA 😂

Dudes not even top 5

Quote (DeRozan @ Feb 21 2020 01:39pm)

Jojo thinks he’s the best player in the NBA 😂

Dudes not even top 5

Quote (MigNado @ Feb 21 2020 01:58pm)

Softest mental in nba history :lol:

Quote (Sixers @ Feb 21 2020 08:45am)

#DidYouKnowFlow:

The Sixers are 18-3 when Joel Embiid attempts three three-pointers or fewer in a game. They’re 8-11 when he shoots four or more.