Ben Simmons might just have been the most hated player in the NBA last season. The former All-Star was sitting out and refusing to play for the Philadelphia 76ers as he tried to force his way out. There were issues with his back as well as his mental health, which seem to have been quite serious, but it’s very evident that Simmons had no intention of playing for the Sixers again.
While the abuse aimed at him may have gotten out of hand sometimes, some of the criticism was both deserved and earned. Ben Simmons’ falling out with the franchise that drafted him kicked in after a loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2021. The game was defined by an iconic moment when Simmons had only Trae Young between him and the bucket and passed to Matisse Thybulle instead of just dunking the ball.
In his recent appearance on the Old Man And The Three podcast with JJ Redick, Simmons explained his thought process when the infamous moment occurred. He talked about how he didn’t realize it was Trae Young and just saw a Hawks jersey. And while some may have accepted his reason as a valid one, some aren’t quite buying it.
Shaquille O’Neal Doesn’t Want To Hear Ben Simmons’ Excuses For Not Dunking On Trae Young
Even though there were a lot of reasons, the Philadelphia 76ers lost that series, and in Game 7, Simmons’ moment became representative of their failures. This led to him feeling like the team had thrown him under the bus, and he had some other beef with Shaq following that as well. And The Big Diesel is one of those that simply don’t believe that Simmons’ explanation for not dunking was good enough.
“That’s an excuse, I don’t give a damn if MJ is on your back… you can fool people some of the time, but you can’t fool me!” 👀🔥
–@shaq responding to Ben Simmons’ comments via The Big Podcast w/ Shaq
Glad there’s someone who will speak the truth.#HereTheyCome #Sixers 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/67NUpNx4HG
— RB (@RBPhillyTake) September 24, 2022
“Okay, Spice knows this, that’s an excuse. I don’t give a damn if Michael Jordan is on your back. I don’t give a damn if T-Mac with Yao Ming and me is on your back. You throw it down, it’s the playoffs. We trying to advance, I don’t wanna hear that. I don’t wanna hear no excuses.”
Shaq does make a valid point. At the highest level of competition, in a situation like that, a player should be backing themselves to make that dunk. Ben Simmons has often been about making the right play, but he got it wrong on that one. In any case, Simmons can settle the score with Shaq if he gets back to his best and performs at an elite level next season.
