Ben Simmons is treading as a borderline ‘what if’ scenario in 2023. The 2016 first overall pick missed his rookie season due to injury and came back the next season and won Rookie of the Year honors over Donovan Mitchell in a controversial decision.
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Regardless of whether or not fans agreed with the decision to make him ROTY, it was clear that the Philadelphia 76ers had something with Joel Embiid and Simmons at the helm of their offense and defense. With Markelle Fultz not working, Sixers fans still had a respectable and young core with that tandem.
There wasn’t much to complain about when it came to Ben. The Australian native was a downhill threat, a passing savant, one of the best rebounding forwards in the game, and a switchable perimeter defender. If there was one complaint with his game (and there was one), it was his unwillingness to shoot.
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Shaquille O’Neal posts a video of Kobe Bryant critiquing Ben Simmons
Shaquille O’Neal has been critical of Ben Simmons over the years. While he has praised him for his other attributes, O’Neal has said on many occasions that not only does Ben need to develop a jumpshot, he needs to get the confidence to start taking them.
Kobe Bryant, Shaq’s former Lakers teammate, once said the same exact thing about the former Klutch Sports athlete. Shaq took to his Instagram story to share what Kobe said, who claimed he was ‘deada** serious’ about Simmons needing to establish a jumpshot.
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Of course, one of the biggest issues Simmons has is his inability to gain enough confidence to shoot a shot from outside of the paint. He’s attempted 36 3s in his career and has made just 5. If he were to come out and shoot just 2 a game, perhaps he would have his game open up to a major extent.
Ben Simmons has been shut down for a season yet again
Ben Simmons was ruled out for the remainder of the Brooklyn Nets campaign in late March of this year due to a knee impingement. He had been dealing with back problems as well that kept him out during the beginning of the season as well.
His back problems date back to his final season with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021-22, where he would not play a single game for the Sixers. This would be the season right after his disastrous play in the ’21 Eastern Conference Semis against the Atlanta Hawks.
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