Joel Embiid hints that Ben Simmons needs to shoot more

Ben Simmons’ hesitance to shoot jumpers is one of the top memes in the NBA today, but his fellow Philadelphia 76ers star seems to think that it has gotten to the point of actively hurting the team.

Speaking with the media on Thursday, Sixers center Joel Embiid discussed the team’s offensive struggles and hinted that Simmons needed to shoot the basketball more often.

“We just got to look at ourselves and see what we can do individually, we’ve got to help each other even if it means being outside of your comfort zone for the greater [good] to help the team win,” said Embiid, per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. “Meaning that, if you’ve got to space and shoot it, you’ve got to do it. We need everybody to buy into that and we’ll be fine, we’re going to be fine. We’re still finding our groove, we haven’t been totally healthy, the whole starting lineup. Like I said, we’ll be fine.”

The Sixers have lost their last three straight games and now rank a mediocre 15th in offensive rating on the season (per NBA.com). While Simmons did hit the first threes of his NBA career earlier in the year, he has since regressed into refusing to take even midrange shots. As a result, teams sag way off Simmons and cramp the spacing for everyone else, a problem further compounded by the loss of JJ Redick in free agency.

Embiid is not the first Sixer to complain about the state of the offense lately, so it’s clear that they have some issues to work through during these final three months of the regular season.