Chris Broussard says that James Harden has been a better point guard than Ben Simmons and that the latter has not won a single thing.
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With about 20 games remaining in this 2020-21 NBA season, the standings in both conferences are starting to cement themselves as what they are today.
Barring a late-season surge from Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks, it seems as though the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia Sixers will be the top 2 seeds in the Eastern Conference.
With Kevin Durant and the Nets flying to the Wells Fargo Center to face off against Ben Simmons and the 76ers tomorrow night, a reporter asked Simmons about a potential rivalry between the two squads.
Simmons however, shunned the idea of a rivalry to the side and said Joel Embiid and co are looking towards going up against the defending champs in the Lakers, rather than the Nets.
Chris Broussard took to his show First Things First to call out Ben Simmons on these particular comments.
Chris Broussard tears Ben Simmons to shreds for his take on a potential Brooklyn-Philly rivalry
Broussard didn’t think too much of Ben Simmons’ comments on the Philadelphia 76ers looking forward to face LeBron James and the Lakers, rather than a more immediate competition in the Brooklyn Nets.
“James Harden was playing point guard better than Ben Simmons ever has. This sounds like a quote you’d make the day after the trade. I don’t need the formula of winning from Ben Simmons. He hasn’t won a thing.”
“James Harden was playing point guard better than Ben Simmons ever has. This sounds like a quote you’d make the day after the trade. I don’t need the formula of winning from Ben Simmons. He hasn’t won a thing.”
— @Chris_Broussard on Simmons dismissing a potential rivalry w/ BKN pic.twitter.com/efQWK6m4Jm
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 14, 2021
It does seem a tad bit unfair to compare James Harden’s success to Ben Simmons’ success, considering the fact that Harden was drafted nearly 7 years before the Aussie native. Moreover, though Harden may have made several All-NBA and All-Star teams, along with bagging an MVP, he hasn’t yet reached the promised land, since his ancillary role with the Thunder in 2012.
Simmons’ mentality of wanting to go for the defending champs, rather than a team that hasn’t proven anything as of yet, does seem fair. The Brooklyn Nets have been steamrolling through the NBA, even without having their 3 superstars take to the floor at once in nearly 2 months. However, this squad has yet to show everybody that they can carry this momentum forward into the postseason.
This is not to say that the Sixers have has extremely successful postseasons in recent memory either. Their most memorable moments from the past few years in the Playoffs have been Kawhi Leonard’s heartbreaking shot in Game 7 of the ECSF against them, and their beef with Jared Dudley’s Nets in 2019.
Regardless, if the two maintain their current seedings, they will face off in the Eastern Conference Finals, barring an early Playoff exit.
