Adam Silver took an interested look at James Harden and Ben Simmons’ press conferences. The two men spoke their first words with their new team barely a week after this resounding transfer between 76ers and Nets.
This exchange, obviously the most commented on this last “trade deadline”, put an end to a long blocking situation on the side of the Sixers. Criticized for his last performances in the playoffs, Ben Simmons had demanded his departure last summer. He has since still not stepped on an NBA floor.
” Seeing players force their way out of situations is nothing new in this league. It is important to have this context in mind. Insofar as there are player movements, I would have loved to find a way to make things happen differently“, shows Adam Silver to Yahoo! Sports.
Implied without all the “drama” that preceded this exchange. Ben Simmons’ situation in Philadelphia has been one of the threads of the 76ers’ season so far, although his absence hasn’t had that much sporting impact in the end. Daryl Morey, Doc Rivers or Joel Embiid have regularly been questioned about this file, which one wonders how it would have ended without this exchange.
“Very stressful situations”
On the Nets side, speculation around James Harden’s departure desires have emerged much more recently. The first signs of his public frustration date back to late January, coinciding with Kevin Durant’s injury and the start of New York’s eleven-game losing streak.
Some as Tracy McGrady suspect to have subsequently simulated his hamstring injury (which will still deprive him of the All-Star Game …) to push the Nets to proceed with the exchange. Another far-fetched theory even accused James Harden of having deceived his world about his weight to recover his exit voucher, already obtained a year earlier from the Rockets.
” There will always be conversations behind closed doors, when teams or players are unhappy, I accept that. (But) these issues being brought up in public is the last thing we want to see “, continues Adam Silver, who hears” think about ways to improve the system “.
Watching James Harden and Ben Simmons being questioned by the press, the league boss recalled, however, that the two men are ” human beings, who in both cases have been through very stressful situations. We want them to feel, deep down, that they can release their stress and be productive in their workplace. But I’m not surprised to see a resurgence of some issues that could have been dealt with behind the scenes. This is not the way I would have liked it to happen.“
