Ben Simmons hasn’t had the best start to the 2022-23 NBA season, struggling to make an impact on the Brooklyn Nets and having a hard time trying to stop the opposition. In six games of the young regular season, Simmons fouled out twice, setting the alarms at Barclays Center.
He has been unable to shoot the ball either and recently was mocked for air balling a layup. The situation doesn’t look that good for Simmons, although Kyrie Irving has urged people to give him some time before we see the best version of Ben on the court again.
Meanwhile, fans keep trolling him and the rest of the team. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for anybody, especially Simmons, who claimed the Nets can be the best team in the league despite their 1-5 start.
Channing Frye Doesn’t Think Ben Simmons Has The Right Mentality
While the Nets still have hope in Simmons, others are concerned about the player’s mindset, including a former player who went on to say that Ben is ‘damaged’ after all the rough moments he’s lived in the league. Channing Frye recently went on a lengthy rant about Ben, saying that he’s not showing any energy out there.
“He (Simmons) doesn’t play like he has worked on his game at all,” Frye said via Sportskeeda. “He doesn’t play like he feels like he deserves to score or win. He’s just out there because it’s an obligation. It’s how I feel, I don’t know if that’s true. I have rarely seen a player played more scared and more worried about what are people gonna think.”
“I’m looking at his eyes he does not even look at the rim. He has some emotional damage to being the best version of himself, and it not being up to standard. That’s the honest truth. He will not go out there and just go balls to the wall and play as hard as he can and embrace the talent that he has that 99.9 of all players don’t have.
“Because, ‘What if I lose or what if I don’t look good?’ That’s what it looks like to me. It’s heartfelt but you have to be emotionally invested in every game, every shot, every possession to be elite.”
Simmons has been criticized for the same thing before, even when he was a part of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Australian point guard has cited his mental health issues as the reason why he couldn’t perform at the best level before, but it seems like he still has a long way to walk before reaching the desired point.
The Nets need their Big 3 at the highest level, but for that, Simmons must step up and show why he’s still considered a star in this league. So far, he hasn’t played like one, and that has only hurt the Nets.
