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The Philadelphia 76ers are entangled in Ben Simmons drama at the start of a new season.

To recap: Simmons made another All-Star team and helped the Sixers get the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, then had an awful second round series in the playoffs defined by historically bad free throw shooting and an unwillingness to shoot in the fourth quarter (even on wide open dunks) as the Atlanta Hawks pulled off the upset. Head coach Doc Rivers and superstar teammate Joel Embiid threw Simmons under the bus for his rough performance at the end of the series, and Simmons told Philadelphia he wanted to be traded. The Sixers asked for the world for Simmons and never completed a deal, and now Simmons is saying hes going to hold out of training camp until hes finally dealt. Its a mess.

Before the Sixers report to training camp next week, Rivers stopped by MSNBC to promote a new podcast hes narrating called It Was Said: Sports. The podcast focuses on iconic sports speeches including Jack Bucks For America poem following the 9/11 attacks, Muhammad Ali protesting the Vietnam War, Billie Jean King championing equal pay and discusses why they continue to resonate with us to this day.

During his interview with host Willie Geist, Rivers was asked about the Simmons trade demand. Rivers said the team is trying to convince Simmons to stay in Philadelphia, but theyre having a hard time changing his mind. This led Rivers to make an outlandish and objectively hilarious comparison:

Theres times that I think were getting through, Rivers acknowledged. And theres times that I think that Im talking to people who still believe Trump won the election. So Im not sure, but Im going to keep trying.

Heres the video:

No matter what Rivers and the Sixers say to Simmons, they cant convince him to go back to work for the team despite being under contract for the next four years. To Rivers, this is somehow similar to voters on the right who refuse to accept that Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. What in the world.

This is just classic Rivers here. Hes pandering to the MSNBC audience that hates Trump. Hes pandering to the Philly sports fanbase by talking about how stubborn Simmons is being. Hes making a connection that really doesnt make any sense. Its beautiful and outrageous and totally unnecessary.

Rivers comments on Simmons after the Game 6 loss to the Hawks played a big role in Simmons wanting out. Rivers has tried to walk back those comments recently, but it doesnt look like its working. Rivers comparing him to Trump superfans for like no reason at all probably isnt going to help matters.

Its going to be a weird season in Philly.

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This Doc Rivers quote on Ben Simmons and Donald Trump blew my mind - SB Nation