The NBA holds many different kinds of players that form special bonds and friendships but, the friendship between 76ers’ power forward Tobias Harris and Rockets’ center Boban Marjanović is truly special. The pair has played together in 3 seasons on 3 seperate teams- the Pistons, Clippers, and 76ers- forming a lifelong friendship.

The duo fist meet when Boban was drafted to the Pistons in 2016. At first they didn’t seem to get along, Boban thought Tobias was cocky and a ball-hog. However, this changed when Tobias approached Boban in the gym. Tobias complimented the big man’s game and their friendship was set ever since.

Tobias shared that their relationship first grew from their mutual love of singing and dancing. Tobias shared “I’m a big music guy, so we’d play a lot of music. I always used to see Boban in the weight room dancing to the music, and I would have to show him some moves, so that just like increased our bond,” a great insight into how their friendship originated. Their brotherly love was shown more to the public when a goofy video of the two dancing to Chicken Noodle Soup surfaced on instagram.

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The pair became internet sensations, creating their own mini-series during the 2018 preseason called “Bobi + Tobi”.  Tobias shared the he wanted Boban and himself ro match but, Tobias never loved the name Tobi. He claims that he’s alright with being called Tobi as long as it’s with the context of Bobi.

Tobias recalls one of his favorite moments with Boban as when they were leaving a restaurant and playing Cardi B in the car. Reportedly, when the song Bodak yellow came on, during Cardi’s verse, Boban pulled out his red slippers as the song sang “these are bloody shoes.”  Tobias started laughing uncontrollably and any time the song played after that Boban pulls out his “red bottoms”.

Boban was offered a acting gig via Goldfish commercials in February of 2023.  Tobias was brought onto the commercial as well after a Goldfish executive had the idea to further their friendship through a new media. These commercials are used to promote the “grab a handful” promotion. Who better to represent a handful then Boban, the largest hands in the NBA. The two loved shooting these commercials together. Their friendship was only strengthened as they made these commercial hand in bigger hand.

The two have become very close friends, some may say BFFs. Their friendship has been extremely publicized that when Tobias shared a tweet stating “I can’t wait to marry my best friend” fans were quick to comment asking if he’s marrying Boban. Tobias obviously denied the claim but found it hilarious that the fans would think “Toban” was reaching the point of marriage.  You really got to hand it the pair their friendship lasts no matter where they are. Weather their on the court or shooting commercials together, their friendship shows the true meaning of Brotherly Love.

From the beginning of Morant’s career he has always shown promise. He continued to make poster dunk after poster dunk and develop a good defensive game. Ja Morant was drafted in 2019, as the second pick in the first round, to the Memphis, Grizzles. Where he averaged 18.4 ppg (point per game), 3.9 rpg (rebounds per game), and 7.1 apg (assists per game), while averaging a whopping 31.7 minutes per game. Which if you’re new to basketball is a Hefty amount of minutes for a rookie. This season, the 2019-2020 season, he was even named rookie of the year. To date Morant boasts 29 double-doubles; he also preformed 3 triple-doubles. Before he entered the NBA he was the first college basketball player to average 20 point and 10 assists per game at Murray University. In 2019, before he was drafted into the NBA, he was name OCV Player of the Year and tournament MVP.  He than was awarded the 2019 Lute Olson Award and 2019 Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard. He currently has grown in his game and has shown that he is champion material; he now has a ppg of 24 point, a rpg of 5.9 rebounds, and apg of 8.1 assists.

In most recent news Ja Morant has been the center of NBA controversy. His first slap on the wrist from NBA officials occurred in March of 2023, where he appeared on a live stream in a Denver-area strip club.  Morant started the live on instagram where he was clearly in possession of a fire arm. 11 days later the NBA decided to suspend Ja for 8 games without pay, totaling a loss of 700,000 dollars out of his 12.1 million dollar salary.

His second controversy began only 2 months after the fist in May of 2023. Another Instagram live stream surfaced on X, formerly known as Twitter. The live shows the 23 year old holding a gun while gathered  by friends and cars. This controversy seemed to really infuriate the NBA, especially following his prior gun related controversy. The only comment regarding the Morant situation from the Grizzlies themselves said, “We are aware of the social media video involving Ja Morant, he is suspended from all team activities pending League review. We have no further comment at this time.” He was later barred from playing in the next 25 games of the season along with all practices and training camps. Ja was also forced to forfeit even more of his salary, this time losing a mass of 7.6 million dollars from his salary. Many suspected that Ja might face further punishment from the NBA and the many might have been correct. NBA commissioner alluded to other stipulations Morant might need to be reinstated, but the specifics were not publicly released.

While Morant has already been through some career altering controversy it didn’t end there. According to the Washington Post Morant’s mother got into a non-physical altercation with a Memphis mall employee. She called over Morant and he came with about 9 of his friends. A police officer approached the crowd and reported being threatened by Morant. However, there were no charges pressed on Morant. He was also accused of beating up a teenager. A 17 year old boy accused Morant of assaulting him at a pickup-basketball game during an off-season. The kid stated that after accidentally hitting Morant in the face with a basketball, Morant proceeded to repeatedly punch him along with another person.  While no charges were brought against Morant for the altercation, the kid decided to sue Morant. Morant responded claiming that he was only acting in self-defence. He says that the kid intentionally threw the ball and threatened him by saying “light his house up” which Morant thought to mean as a call to someone else to grab a gun.

Ben Simmons could go on to lead the 76ers roster as the biggest failure in 76ers history. While, he may have had a promising future starting out in the NBA his overall performance has tanked. Weather it’s the lack of a jump shot or his beyond sub par free throws he has severely lacked the true traits of an NBA star.

Ben may have many flaws in his game plan but he has one strength, defense. He is often able to make smart plays to keep opposing players away from the ball. Weather he’s setting up a screen or stealing the ball, he always shined in a defensive role. However, in order for a player to reach the status of All-Star, which he has, he would need to create a more versatile skill set.

In his first year in the NBA Ben showed serious promise. He even garnered the attention of LeBron James. Many commentators have compared the early stages of Ben to those of LeBron. James went on to respond saying “The sky’s the limit for Ben. His size, his strength, his vision, his IQ … he carries himself as someone who believes he’s the best, as you should.” While Ben might have originally shown potential, it was all wasted following the 2019-2020 season.

Ben was never consistent in his games. He often switched his game to either a good shooting night, a good defensive night, or neither. While every now and again he could shoot the ball his defensive skills is what got him on the All-Star team. Ben is historically a horrible free throw shooter, averaging 59% throughout his career. To put that in perspective, the average free throw percentage in the whole NBA is 75%.  While other acclaimed NBA stars have preformed poorly behind the free throe line, for instance Shaq, Ben is not able to make up for his shortcomings with defensive surges alone.

During the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons Ben faced a multitude of issues with the 76ers. It started with Ben facing criticism from coaches, fans, and commentators for his lack of a jump shoot and poor performance at the free throw line.  His mental health might have affected his game as even his defensive plays seemed to drop. However, Ben was given ample opportunity to practice and perfect his game. He would miss practices, refuse to play, and would incessantly complain about his role on the team. One of his biggest failures to show up for the team was during the 2021 playoffs verses the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks were loosing in a possible series winning game when they realized just how horrible Simmons is at free throws. They would spend every defensive play fouling Simmons, forcing him to the line. This lead to a tie game and eventually the Hawks winning the game and series. While the 76ers were predicted to win the series Ben Simmons almost single handedly cost them the series.

Ben was later traded in 2022 to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. Where he consistently didn’t play until over half way through the 2021-2022 season. He has still yet to play consistently for Nets and seems to go through the same cycle for the last 2 years: season starts, plays horribly, gets a back injury, then posts a workout video, then repeat.