Skip Bayless has agreed with the 2021 ESPN ranking of the NBA’s Top 100 players, which put Ben Simmons ahead of Russell Westbrook.
Simmons ranks 28th, one spot ahead of Brodie. This obviously didn’t sit well with a lot of people, especially considering that Russ averaged a triple-double again. At the same time, Ben struggled to help his team in the postseason.
Kendrick Perkins couldn’t believe that ESPN selected Simmons over Westbrook, but nobody can change that now. On the other hand, Bayless agreed with the ranking, explaining that Westbrook is ‘overrated’ as a winner, while Simmons is ‘underrated’ in the NBA world.
On Thursday’s edition of FS1’s Undisputed, the controversial analyst explained why he agrees with that notion.
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1441051084076695552
“Russell Westbrook has always been supremely overrated as a winning basketball player. It is why Kevin Durant finally said, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I gotta go win me a ring so I join forces with that team.’ Ben Simmons has always been subtly underrated as a winning basketball player because he can do so much in the box score that is subtle.”
Every season, every ranking of the 100 best players in the NBA stirs the pot, creating a lot of controversies after certain players are given a higher or lower position than most fans expected.
This was the case with Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook, who clashed in the 2021 NBA playoff. The former won the battle at that time, taking out the 2017 NBA MVP in five games.
For Bayless, Simmons’ struggles at the free-throw line are important for his team. Still, he made more things that people like to admit during that second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.
This offseason, the Australian player made his intentions clear that he wanted to leave the Philadelphia 76ers as soon as possible. Simmons won’t even attend training camp, regardless of the fines he could get, trying to force his way out of Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Westbrook was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, trying to win that elusive NBA championship alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. As things stand now, Brodie has bigger chances to win that ring before Ben, even if he decides to stay with Joel Embiid and the Sixers.
