Ben Simmons at his peak was one of the best defensive players in the league. He was an All-Star level player with the Philadelphia 76ers, wowing fans with his defense, slashing ability, and playmaking.
As of now though, Ben Simmons is widely hated within the Philadelphia 76ers fanbase. Part of this is due to his meltdown against the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, where he infamously passed up a dunk despite being guarded by point guard Trae Young.
After Ben Simmons’ meltdown against the Hawks, coach Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid didn’t defend the point guard against criticism. Recently, Ben Simmons called out Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers for not having his back after his mistake in that series. Konrad Marshall of The Sydney Morning Herald relayed the news.
If that was the beginning, the end came into focus when 76ers coach Doc Rivers was asked: “Can Ben Simmons be the point guard of a championship team?” and answered, “I don’t know the answer to that right now.” Or maybe it was when star teammate Joel Embiid appeared to blame the player for the loss. Simmons requested a trade, the 76ers refused, and a standoff began in which he refused to front up to training camp or media day that September.
“I definitely didn’t handle it the right way after the season, but there’s two sides,” he says. “Your teammates are supposed to have your back. Your coaches are supposed to have your back. And I didn’t have that at all.”
It is clear that Ben Simmons accepts that he was wrong for the way he handled the aftermath of the Hawks series in 2021. His problem seems to come from the perceived lack of support from his then-teammate and coach.
Hopefully, we see Ben Simmons be able to get back to his peak and potentially improve even further. He has had a few good games with the Nets recently, and fans will hope that can continue going forward.
Ben Simmons Could Still Get Back To Form
Though many have written Ben Simmons off, there are still some people who believe that he can get back to form. Kyrie Irving has previously preached patience when it comes to Ben Simmons, noting that he hasn’t “played in two years”.
“You guys keep coming in here asking me like what about Ben? He hasn’t played in two years. Give him a f*****g chance. We stay on his s**t. You just stay on him. We’re just here to give him positive affirmations and just let him hoop.”
Ben Simmons is still talented, and when he’s healthy he can be a deadly force as the No. 3 option behind Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on the Brooklyn Nets. We have seen some of that recently with the star’s performance.
The Brooklyn Nets still have a chance to be a good team this year, simply based on the talent on their roster. Ben Simmons playing well will be key for them, and we’ll see how he does for the rest of the season.
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