Stephen A. Smith shares an insider report regarding Ben Simmons and where his future lies after the Sixers’ playoff exit.
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Ever since suffering a humiliating Game7 elimination at the hands of the Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons has been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism not only from disgruntled fans but teammates and coaching staff as well.
The 2018 Rookie of the Year might very well find himself packing his bags for another destination following an extremely disappointing postseason performance.
The man who was supposedly the 2nd best player on the team proved to be one of the weakest links because of his inability to shoot the ball. Averaging 12/8/9 in the playoffs the ‘Fresh Prince’ shot an abysmal 34.2% from the charity stripe making only 25/73 free throws in 2 series.
Historically, many players have struggled to find success from the free-throw line. However, Simmons’ inability to convert free throws quickly turned into a bigger problem as teams employed the ‘Hack-a-Ben’ strategy, effectively rendering him useless.
By the end of it, Ben just seemed terrified of going to the line, so terrified that he’d rather pass the ball to a teammate (Matisse Thybulle) with two defenders on him than dunking it in to secure the lead in the 4th quarter.
In a post-game interview, head coach Doc Rivers had the following to say when asked if Ben Simmons could be a point guard on a championship team like the one the 76ers wanted to be
“Yeah, I don’t know that question or the answer to that right now, so I don’t know the answer to that.”
Let’s be clear – Simmons never entered the league renowned for his ability to shoot the ball. But having spent 4 seasons in the NBA one would think that he’d take it upon himself to get better at it, however, that hasn’t been the case.
Stephen A Smith shares inside information regarding Ben Simmons’ work ethic
In a recent appearance on ESPN’ first take, analyst Stephen A. Smith was quick to share some of the rumblings and rumours in the 76ers organisation regarding Ben Simmons.
“I just received a text from someone very very close to the situation in Philadelphia about Ben Simmons. This is a quote, this is not me this is them- ‘He doesn’t work, he doesn’t listen and everyone around him is family and he is constantly babied’ thats the word out on Ben Simmons.”
As is evident, rumors and doubts about Ben’ commitment to developing his game have been going around for a while. While some argue that he might just be a diva hell-bent on not improving, others believe he might have been overrated from the start only to be exposed 4 years later.
As the Philadelphia 76ers deal with this setback, fans and analysts are eagerly waiting to see the steps this franchise will take to put themselves in a position to win.
Will they decide to take their chances with Ben Simmons hoping that he makes the required adjustments over the summer even if he hasn’t made the effort to do so over the last 4 years? Or do they trade him for a point guard who will serve as a credible offensive threat acting as a number 2 option alongside their superstar, Joel Embiid?
