Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie recently appeared on the Pat Bev podcast, where he spoke about his expectations from the upcoming campaign. Set to earn exactly $18,857,143 in the coming season, according to Sportrac, Dinwiddie spoke in detail about how Ben Simmons’ return and presence change things for his team. Simmons recently signed a $177,243,360 contract which was sarcastically mocked by Shaquille O’Neal due to the number of games he has missed. In the September 27, 2023 episode of the podcast, Dinwiddie sang Simmons’ praises and compared him to Warriors legend Draymond Green.
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Dinwiddie talked about how Simmons has the same kind of skills as Green and is basically a more athletic version of the Warriors’ ace. The 30-year-old said that his team needed to floor the space better for Simmons, who has until now not had the privilege of playing alongside bonafide shooters such as Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.
Spencer Dinwiddie compares Ben Simmons to Draymond Green
While much has been made about Ben Simmons’ lack of playing time and shooting in the recent past, Dinwiddie decided to focus on his strengths. The number 1 pick of the 2016 NBA draft, Simmons is still one of the best rim protectors in the game.
Dinwiddie also praised his passing and the ability to hurt opponents in transition. He hoped that the Nets would be able to surround Simmons with enough shooting, and compared him to Draymond Green:
“I think when you look at Ben he is one of the best in rim protection, a monster in transition, he makes plays for others, so we hope that there’s enough shooting out there, there is is Mikhail and Cam Johnson obviously is a lead always shooting 45 from 3. I have been a good shooter in my career so we hope to space the floor for him. You gotta remember like, Ben in his best form is a far more athletic Draymond Green with less obvious 3-point shooting that Draymod is not a three-point guy, he hits it sparingly. He has never been fortunate enough to play with Steph and Klay obviously. If he had those kind of teammates, you would see the same kind of triple-double accolades.”
Dinwiddie went as far as claiming that Simmons would be producing triple-doubles like Green, had he been playing with shooters like Curry and Thompson too. He talked about how even Green was not the best shooter around. Still, people generally focussed on his strengths and not the obvious weaknesses.
Both the players are dominant defenders and dish out assists for their team. While Simmons might not have done justice to his huge contract until now, especially according to Shaq, his teammate was certainly hoping things would soon change.
Ben Simmons was sarcastically lauded by Shaquille O’Neal for his back troubles
Shaquille O’Neal had hilariously trolled Ben Simmons last season for his back trouble. Simmons had been accused of feigning injuries in order to get out of playing for the Nets.
During an interview, he claimed that he had a sore back and therefore could not play. In response, however, Shaq claimed that all NBA players have sore backs, and generally play through pain.
Shaq claimed that Ben’s actions did not warrant any respect and that he needed to get his act together quickly. A 3-time All-Star and 2-time All-Defensive player, Simmons obviously has the talent to succeed but has until now not had the kind of support that he requires on the court.
