Fox 29 Philadelphia Drags Ben Simmons With Hilarious Video After His Trade Request

76ers guard Ben Simmons requested a trade late last week, and as you can imagine, Philadelphia is not having ANY of it. Fox 29 Philadelphia decided this morning was the perfect time to burn this bridge with a hilarious video.

I'd like to report a dead body.

Simmons really isn't a bad player -- in fact, he's actually quite good. The 25-year-old point guard won Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. Most of the criticism aimed at him is due to his freakishly unique refusal to attempt a jump shot in a sport that requires it.

We've all witnessed effective NBA players who weren't particularly dominant from the perimeter, but we've never seen a max contract guy refuse to try. Simmons signed a five-year, $177.25 million deal last year, so the criticism from Philly is fair. And you can't expect to demand a trade away from a city that's supported you since your 2016 draft day with no blowback. This is the blowback.

Escaping a hard nose city like Philadelphia won't go well if you blame the organization rather than yourself for not improving your game. Sure, it's a little over the line and fairly inaccurate for this reporter to essentially call Ben Simmons trash, but it's not his or anyone in the organization's fault for their inevitable divorce. It seems this reporter, and plenty of others going forward, will want some type of last lick on Simmons before he heads out of town.

This was funny.