Ben Simmons is once again at the center of a storm after he was ruled out for Game 4 of the Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics first-round series. Simmons reportedly awoke with back soreness which means he won’t be able to feature in this series as was initially expected. The response has been drastic, with ex-players and media members alike blasting Simmons for not being available once again for his new team.
Reggie Miller was perhaps the most vocal of his critics, tweeting and calling Simmons out for having a lack of competitive fire. And among those to add their voices to the mix is Shaquille O’Neal, who not only agreed with Miller while talking on Inside The NBA but also went on to describe Simmons not playing as a ‘punk move’.
“Reggie is absolutely correct. In the hood, we call this a punk move. You know, when things are going good, ‘Yeah, imma play in Game 4.’ Chuck said it, if you could play on Saturday, you can play on Monday. Now that they lost, ‘My back hurt’. Well if your back hurt, get some Icy Hot, I’ll send it to you. We call this a punk move.
“If you’re not ready to play, you would get more respect from people if you said, ‘I’m not ready to play’, and don’t say nothing else. Don’t be shooting and saying I’m coming back, imma do this. That was a punk move. Reggie’s absolutely right. If you not gonna play, don’t say you’re gonna play.
If the Brooklyn Nets manage to somehow extend this series, it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the Ben Simmons saga, but at this point, it looks more likely that they’re going to get swept by the Celtics. This would be a terrible situation for the Nets and Ben Simmons will have a lot more to prove when he does come back next season.
