Ben Simmons wasn’t ready to shoot the ball in the Brooklyn Nets’ 137-133 loss, and the bigger question was whether he was afraid of taking on Joel Embiid, his former Philadelphia 76ers teammate.
Simmons has had a roller coaster run so far this season, and just when it looked like he was about to get better, he struggled to exorcise the demons of his past when he faced off against his old team.
One of the instances saw him pass the ball instead of shooting it with Embiid parked right behind him. This led to speculations about whether he was indeed low on confidence and that Philly was too much for him to handle.
Ben Simmons refuses to look at the rim 😳 pic.twitter.com/7xM6GfpSlp
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 26, 2023
Ben Simmons refuses to look at the rim
The guard’s murky exit from the Sixers is well-documented. Now, with the Nets, Simmons was slated to be one of the more vital cogs helping the side make the postseason push and beyond, but safe to say he’s far from where the team expected him to be.
How Has Ben Simmons Fared For The Brooklyn Nets This Season?
At the time of writing, Simmons averages 7.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.4 assists this season — his lowest numbers since he started off playing for the Sixers.
Earlier, Jalen Rose slammed the Australian for his poor performances and made a stinging comment on how he was just stealing money from Brooklyn. Soon after, a fan documented his poor shooting by posting a now-deleted video.
“Ben Simmons is stealing money, ski mask and gloves, as a matter of fact. He has 119 fouls (and) 113 baskets this year. Only two of them outside of the paint. He’s shooting 43 percent from the free-throw line. That’s a guy they traded for James Harden.”
Despite his struggles, and Kevin Durant’s absence of late, the Nets have been a force this season. They propelled themselves to the top five positions in the Eastern Conference and are now placed fourth on the table.
The franchise will hope that Simmons gets his edge back. There is no doubt about the quality he brings to the fore, but with the stakes high and the season zooming into the second half, the team needs its under-fire point guard to step up, and only time will tell if he indeed can be the Simmons of the old.
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