https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/ny-sports-brett-brown-76ers-20190416-tto22hsfvje4zeq2y7egfkij2y-story.html
But the Sixers are a mess internally, with Brown having long ago lost the locker room following the acquisition of Jimmy Butler, but before the acquisition of Tobias Harris. The breaking point came at a game in Portland when Brown had Bruce Bowen address the team about “San Antonio Spurs culture” – a speech that went over like a lead balloon to such an extent that Joel Embiid and Bowen got into each other‘s faces.
The degree to which Brown lost the locker room was amplified on March 25 when Ben Simmons sat out a 21-point loss to the Orlando Magic due to a “stomach virus.”
In actuality, a source close to the team told the Daily News, Simmons had spent the previous night partying in Orlando. The “stomach virus” was a fallacy, although that is nothing new for the Sixers organization. They used to do the same thing when Allen Iverson was partying and gambling his nights away in Atlantic City and showing up for practice hung over. Larry Brown was the mastermind of those cover-ups, although the stories eventually came out.
A source who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity said general manager Elton Brand made it known to ownership sometime before the trade deadline that the organization needed to consider trading Simmons because the youngster was simply not coachable, and was a regular-season player annually exposed in the playoffs.
The idea was immediately shot down, and Brand was told that Simmons and Embiid were untouchable – even if Anthony Davis was the prize.
But back to the Sixers: Ever wonder why Simmons is such a poor free throw shooter? It is because he does not bend his knees. Countless coaches have tried to tell Simmons that bending his knees would solve his problems, but he refuses to listen.