Ben Simmons has been criticized for his lack of competitiveness at times, which was mentioned as a big reason why the Philadelphia 76ers got tired of dealing with him. The point guard is now on the Brooklyn Nets, and some reports suggest that the perception of him around the league hasn’t changed.
Well, Kevin Durant has come in Simmons’ defense, as he explained that the Australian point guard is always ready to push his teammates to the next level. The 2x NBA champion has been making a lot of headlines recently, especially when it comes to his teammates, but KD has nothing but respect for Simmons.
During a recent edition of his podcast, the former Golden State Warriors player opened up on Ben Simmons and what he really thinks of the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
Kevin Durant Explains How Ben Simmons Pushes Him
Talking with Eddie Gonzalez on The ETC’s podcast, Durant had nothing but good things to say about Simmons, even revealing that the point guard once demanded Durant to dunk the ball, cussing him out in the process.
KD says Ben Simmons yelled at him to “dunk the f*cking ball” after passing up on a dunk
(@boardroom @erikslater_) pic.twitter.com/H7WdqRwW4B
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 24, 2022
“When you look at the measurables, you look at 6’10” that can handle the ball, get into the paint, finish, and that could cause so much momentum when he has the ball, and that’s what he did. He drew people into the paint, kick out, brings the ball up the court, kicks the ball ahead. That’s the thing with him, he kicks the ball ahead, and that’s key. He hit me on some 2K s**t, like if you know a dude is going to miss a free throw, you already know you are going to go score. So Ubanks misses a free throw, and he (Simmons) is already looking at me before the shot goes up. And I’m drifting, I never get those, I’m never getting catch and euro to a dunk.
What really stood out to me, and I told somebody this yesterday, we had ran a play after a timeout where I faked the handoff, and I’m going back door every time. He threw the backdoor, and I saw somebody shifting over, and I kicked it to Joe (Harris). He missed the shot and I looked up, and Ben was like ‘dunk the fuc’ing ball’, and I was like ‘all right my bad, I was open?’ and he was like ‘yeah dunk that sh’t.’
That’s the type of stuff I like though.”
Durant is seeing good things from Simmons, and the point guard appears to be getting better by the day. The Nets aren’t yet where they want to be, but they are taking the right steps to do so. We’ll have to wait and see if, after a tumultuous start to the season, they can turn things around and compete for that elusive NBA championship.
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