Ben Simmons Still Being Afraid to Shoot Has NBA Fans Livid at His Progress

Ben Simmons still does not seem fully confident during shooting on the hardwood. Yes, he’s gradually developing into a decent role player. But this slow progress is often accompanied by Simmons passing up wide-open shots. This has left fans, who had expected a lot from the Nets star after his long hiatus, absolutely fuming.

Simmons decided not to attempt wide-open shots twice during the Brooklyn Nets’ 115-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

During a play, the 28-year-old had received an accurate lob placed perfectly for him to finish a fastbreak with a dunk. The only defender present in the paint at that moment was Damian Lillard. Hence, the Nets player shouldn’t have worried about getting his shot blocked.

It seemed to be an easy two points for Simmons to add to his tally. However, he passed up this opportunity by tossing the rock to an unprepared Cam Johnson.

During the same half, the three-time All-Star passed up yet another scoring chance. He had the floor clear ahead of him after stealing the ball from Lillard. Instead of sprinting and attacking the rim, the Aussie visibly slowed down and passed it again to Cam Johnson.

“He has to go to the basket on that,” even the announcer was heard criticizing Simmons.

Fans lashed out at the Nets star after he displayed flashes of his past mistakes. One fan commented, “bro just needs to retire and return to normal life at this point he is not built for this.”

“ain’t no way [laughing emojis]” another fan commented. “Nothing has changed. #scared,” added someone.

“At some point the NBA has to move on from him. He wastin time and money lol,” was a nail in the coffin.

The 2020 All-NBA player has never been known for his long-range shooting. Even at the peak of his prowess, Simmons rarely attempted shots from beyond the paint. That being said, he compensated for this lack of range by being overly aggressive at the rim.

However, that confidence has been missing since he infamously passed up a dunk on Trae Young in the 2021 Conference Semifinals against the Hawks. This lack of confidence in the paint makes him look very bad because he still hasn’t developed a good jumper.

Simmons has been heavily criticized for being unable to hit jump shots

Simmons didn’t find it difficult to score points despite not having the jump shot in his arsenal. But he has always been aware of the importance of such an addition to his offensive bag. Unfortunately, Simmons couldn’t prevent the trolls from denouncing his jumper, eventually affecting his psyche.

“’They’re saying I can’t (shoot). Should I not? I’m f–king confused now’… It did f**k with me a lot. But I kind of found peace in a place where I’m just like f**k it, it’s basketball,” Simmons said on JJ Redick’s podcast in 2022.

Simmons’ self-belief was completely shattered during the 2021 playoff when he shot merely 34.2% from the field.

It’s been a monumental task for Simmons to gather confidence since then. He’s even hired sports psychologists to tackle this issue, but it has reaped no benefit so far.