We’ve officially reached the “NBA stars tweeting emojis in the middle of trade talk” portion of the James Harden saga.
On Thursday, ESPN reported that the Houston Rockets were “increasingly expanding trade discussions” further than the two teams Harden reportedly prefers, the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.
As part of that report, Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne said the Sixers “have signaled a willingness to include All-Star guard Ben Simmons in trade packages for Harden, [but] those talks have come nowhere close to a deal.”
Then, The Athletic’s Shams Charania basically said the same thing before Sixers president Daryl Morey declared “We are not trading Ben Simmons.”
The Philadelphia 76ers have made Ben Simmons available in some packages with the Houston Rockets for James Harden, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Conversations aren't fluid as of now.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 17, 2020
In response, 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: “We are not trading Ben Simmons — he is an important part of our future.” https://t.co/W6T7HQjjoP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2020
Got all that? Good. Now, on Friday, there was this one-emoji tweet from Simmons:
😤
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) December 18, 2020
I’m trying to figure out what that means: is it annoyance at even being mentioned in trade talks? Is it backing up Morey somehow?
The other strange thing is Morey retweeted it:
But here’s the thing: Simmons tweets out this emoji A LOT:
😤
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) December 15, 2020
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) November 10, 2020
😤
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) November 7, 2020
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) November 6, 2020
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) September 17, 2020
It could mean nothing, it could mean everything. The drama continues. Here’s some reaction from fans:
Ain't going no where! 😤 #PhilaUnite #Sixers #HereTheyCome https://t.co/4lwgd92oQB
— BigTWil34 (@BigTWil34) December 18, 2020
Welcome to Houston https://t.co/M7sSCW9fen
— alay (@mehtabeta77) December 18, 2020
Morey Retweeted this 🤔 https://t.co/MAOaoEr4JC
— JLS IV (@Slotter) December 18, 2020
The prince is not going anywhere. https://t.co/t2BW5K3KZe
— Matthew Schorr (@PureBooyah) December 18, 2020
Oh how I’ve missed these tweets😤Save us from this awful eagles team @sixers https://t.co/ZlodVQD0uU
— SixersN’Birds (@sixersnbirds) December 18, 2020
