When asked which player he finds most entertaining to watch play live, Shaquille O’Neal didn’t waste the chance to throw a stray at fallen Nets swingman Ben Simmons. During a segment on his podcast, O’Neal put the former All-Star on blast for earning $80 million while sitting on the bench.
“Ben Simmons, because I would want to learn how you can make $80M and play 55 games,” said O’Neal. “Teach me. Teach me how you could play 55 games in three seasons and get $30 million, $40 million, and another $40 million.”
Jamal, Shaq, and Adam reveal which NBA players they’d pay to watch live 👀
Episode 14 is LIVE now: https://t.co/LZ5Yij33lB pic.twitter.com/Dvek81gkTu
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) March 27, 2024
Thanks to various business investments and smart money management, Shaq has managed to expand his riches by hundreds of millions of dollars but he only made $292 million over his entire basketball career.
Somehow, Ben is approaching that number and has made $85 million in just 50 games for Brooklyn.
Back in 2019, Ben signed a five-year, $177 million extension with the 76ers that has him making roughly $40 million per year. Between this season and next, Simmons is owed over $80 million and nobody knows when/if he’ll ever be a regular rotation player again.
For an elite level All-Star, that outrageous salary might be acceptable but Simmons hasn’t been anywhere close to a star since his final season in Philly and he is showing no signs of turning it around.
For the Nets, shelving out nearly $100 million for a player who is barely available is just an absolute killer to their roster and they don’t really have a chance to compete until he’s off the books.
Barring a last-minute return to form for Simmons, next season could be his last in the NBA and it would be quite a tragic end for a player who once showed so much promise.
The End Of The Road For Ben Simmons
Drafted first overall in 2016, Ben Simmons was drawing comparisons to LeBron James after his lone season at LSU. Hailed for his playmaking, ball handling, and elite defense, Ben made an All-Star team by his second season.
Over the first few years, Ben continued to show signs of stardom but he could never take the last step needed to complete his game: extending his range. As Ben’s shooting became an increasing point of focus among critics, his confidence began to falter and his game never recovered.
In a now infamous moment on the 76ers, Simmons’ shooting woes came back to haunt him when he passed up a wide-open layup to dish the ball to a teammate. The scene went viral online and it cost Simmons the last bit of confidence he had in his game.
What followed was an ugly fallout between Simmons and his now former team and while he is wearing a different jersey now, not much has really changed about his situation.
With the 2023-24 season drawing to a close, Ben is still unable to shoot past five feet and his durability is worse than it’s ever been with so many missed games.
If Simmons cannot turn this around and prove his worth next season, he may find himself out of the league for good. But when you’ve already earned over $80+ million for doing nothing, the incentive to come back and work hard isn’t very strong and it likely won’t be enough to bring the best out of No. 10.
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