Ben Simmons, Brett Brown Respond to Controversial Report

Before heading to Brooklyn on Thursday, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to the practice court in Camden, New Jersey as they prepare for Game 3 of their playoff series. The first matchup was a disappointing showing, where the Sixers put everybody in a panic as they caught a beatdown in front of their home crowd. The second game? Well, the Sixers threw a haymaker, as expected by the Nets, and Brooklyn gave a beatdown and took one themselves with the series now tied at 1-1.

Although the series is tied up, the Sixers will still have their hands full with the team from New York. But it appears as though they have their hands full with a publication from New York as well. On Tuesday, the New York Daily News ran a story by Chris Sheridan, which exposed behind-the-scenes incidents involving many faces of the Philadelphia 76ers including Head Coach Brett Brown, star guard Ben Simmons, General Manager Elton Brand, and All-Star center, Joel Embiid.

Even though the Sixers' Vice President of Communications denied the report, while exposing the author of the hit piece as a fraud, the local media still attempted to get the opinions from those who were mentioned. General Manager, Elton Brand wasn't around on Wednesday to comment, and Joel Embiid was excused from speaking to the media as well. That left reporters in attendance with the opportunity to ask Simmons and Coach Brown for their opinions on the story.

When Ben Simmons was asked about the story on Wednesday, he didn't have much to say. In the hit piece, Simmons was accused of being too hungover from partying the night before a game against the Orlando Magic. He was listed as 'Out' on the injury report due to a stomach sickness. According to Sheridan's source, that wasn't the case. When asked about the story, Simmons made it clear that he didn't want to comment.

"Are you talking about the regular season?" Simmons responded to the initial question, then cut the reporter off by mentioning that he will only be talking about playoffs. As for Head Coach, Brett Brown, he didn't have much to say about it either. According to WIP's Jon Johnson, Brown says he did not, and will not read the NY Daily News piece, which further indicates that a controversial hit piece is the last of the Sixers worries right now.

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