When Ben Simmons was drafted in 2016, there was major excitement and optimism about what kind of player he’d become in the NBA.
Five years later, and Simmons is certainly not in a bad spot. He’s a 3x All-Star, 2x All-Defensive player, and the 2017-18 Rookie of the Year.
Unfortunately, Ben has yet to plug some pretty significant holes in his game — namely his shooting from the perimeter. After years of experience, Simmons has only gotten worse on the offensive end, and it has cost the Sixers heavily during the playoffs.
Despite this fact, it is pretty much a yearly tradition that workout videos surface of Ben working out and nailing jumpers in the offseason.
This summer was no different, and fans had a lot to say about it.
“Here is an update,” wrote on Twitter user. “He posted these videos just like this the last four years. He won’t shoot in real games or summer games.”
Charles Barkley recently came out and made similar criticisms about the Simmons videos, insisting that he’s not going to buy into the hype until he sees some real progress on the court.
“Hey spice! I live in Philadelphia during the summer. This is the third year in a row they put up their bullsh** jump shot during the summer.
But this is so funny, you know, because I mean honestly, I’m in Philly all summer, so I get asked this question every day. This would be the third year in a row that he put up all these things during the summer, of him shooting a jump shot. I’m not falling for the banana in a tailpipe anymore. That’s exactly what it is.”
You can’t blame Shaq for speaking so harshly here.
While it’s great to see videos of Ben in the gym and working to improve, it doesn’t actually matter until it makes an impact on the court.
Until that happens, he will continue to hear the noise.
