After taking a 108-97 bar-measuring loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James took time to praise rookie Ben Simmons over Instagram, who had a well-rounded evening with 18 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block in 32 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I told y’all a while back that my young King was next in line! Getting better and better every night out! Tonight another example of that,” wrote James in the caption. “Fun to watch and compete against you again and The Process Joel Embiid. Remember lil bro settle for nothing less than GREATNESS!!!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfz04rYhrEQ/?hl=en
Simmons and James share the same agency in Klutch Sports, both also represented by James’ friend Rich Paul.
The Sixers forward has also admitted in countless interviews that he’s looked up to James and patented his game after the triple-double machine, as the two came one rebound and two assists shy of one on Thursday night.
After taking two tough losses against the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards, the Sixers rebounded against the Cleveland Cavaliers and are now 8-2 in their last 10 games.
The Cavs have lost three of their last five games and are now 6-3 since the myriad of trades took place at the deadline, hitting a bit of a bump on their stride as we approach the last stretch of the regular season.
The Cavs are still 7.5 games back of the leaders Toronto Raptors and seven away from their archrivals Boston Celtics, making the No. 1 seed an even more unlikely task to complete in the next month.