Recently, several sports social media accounts have been highlighting key NBA players who weren’t signed to a team this season as of yet. Russell Westbrook is now a member of the Sacramento Kings. But one of the other notable names on this list is Ben Simmons. The list insinuated that the league may miss their presence.
However, I wholeheartedly disagree that any fan of the NBA will miss the contributions of Simmons. With Westbrook being an established first ballot Hall of Famer, the league would absolutely miss him. He has earned the right to end his career when he is ready. In the case of Simmons, one could surmise that he may have already been around three years too long.
Philly, we have a problem
The question that matters most is, “What’s NBA fans’ beef with Simmons?” How has he become a player who instantly elicits an eye roll once his name is said? It’s a multipronged answer that may not be 100% fair to him, depending on who you ask. Some will cite him having anxiety issues about his game. For starters, let’s simply begin with what we see as his dedication to the game. Being at about 6’10” and having built a seemingly strong stature, the former Rookie of the Year was gifted with supreme athleticism. He also handled the basketball rather well, and given his height, a skilled passer. Playing with the likes of Joel Embiid allowed for them to become a tandem that was difficult to guard. However, Simmons’ refusal to grow his game and become more of a scorer hurt the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons’ affinity for shying away from big momentum-shifting moments is what began to piss fans off. This is especially true in a rabid sports city like Philadelphia. His playoff blunder on a break, passing up a clean look for a layup to instead pass, will go down in infamy. It ultimately became the beginning of the end. To fans, it felt as if his head wasn’t in the game. And knowing that if his basketball IQ were up to snuff, the Sixers could’ve very well won that series.
Sixers fans have valid gripes
The disdain that the city had for Simmons was palpable, so much so that the relationship with him and Philadelphia was never the same. It’s well documented that he lost the confidence of his teammates and coach as well during that time. From that point, he became a journeyman. He had a stint on the Brooklyn Nets that was largely marred by a nagging back injury. Then, last season, he had a forgettable stop in Los Angeles with the Clippers.
The Kardashian curse
Throughout his stints after Philly, it has been widely felt that Simmons really enjoys the life of being an NBA athlete more than actually playing. In fact, some make the correlation with his asking price being above the veteran minimum currently as a sign of just that. Over the past three seasons, of a possible 246 games, Simmons has played in 159. That’s around 65%. But he hasn’t really produced in any meaningful way within that time. With only 383 career games to his name, in a seven-year career, you can see why fans have soured on him.
NBA fans have been waiting for years to say good riddance to the Ben Simmons experiment. It turns out that if you’re a guard in the NBA, you actually need to learn to shoot. You can’t be a star in the league and have your latest relationship with Kendall Jenner be the only talk about you. Once those two decided to split, things began to go downhill. Ironically, it was no different when it came to Blake Griffin, who predated Simmons’ relationship with Jenner.
Why would a team want to sign someone who they deem hasn’t shown enough dedication to their craft over recent seasons? It’s a toxic energy to bring into a locker room. Seemingly, there’s a message being sent, specifically in the case of Simmons, that he no longer has any wool in any team’s eyes. He has been given opportunity after opportunity to make a beautiful living and create an amazing career for himself, but his game simply hasn’t grown.
Simmons’ “What if?” story may be one of the most fascinating of all time. And I’m sure he’ll take an opportunity to do an “in his own words” type of documentary when the time is right. Because he’s got to get something from it, right? If it makes dollars, it makes sense. But then and still, it’s a small price to pay for having to sit through mostly dismal production for so long. The NBA will continue to thrive without him and actually, I don’t think Simmons cares. Therein lies my point. Wow, I laid one in without even trying.