“Magic Johnson paved the way for Michael Jordan, I paved the way for Kevin Garnett; Ben Simmons is messing that money up!”: Shaquille O’Neal points out how the disgruntled Sixers star’s actions will affect the rest of the NBA

Shaquille O’Neal says the Ben Simmons trade saga will undo a lot of great work in player empowerment done by Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and others.

Ben Simmons has lost more face in the last 8 months than practically any other player in any sport. The Australian-born Sixers star (former, can we call him now?) put in a DPOY-caliber campaign in the 6 months preceding that.

The tragedy is that he truly seems to believe his team threw him under the bus after Philly got knocked out. Rich Paul and Klutch Sports are citing Doc Rivers’ and Joel Embiid’s exit interview statements with regards to this.

In doing so, Ben has not given any energy to the Sixers’ camp and his teammates since the summer. He’s been ghosting everyone from the front office to Doc Rivers as they attempted to mend the broken bridges.

Simmons will apparently never wear a Sixers jersey again, but his trade value is currently so low that his team can only lose assets by packaging him to a poverty franchise.

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There seems to be an extended stalemate in the making. Rich Paul has sent signals that Ben Simmons will sit the entire season out, if needed, for the trade to go through. Daryl Morey, meanwhile, is adamant on landing an All-NBA talent in exchange for one of his own.

Shaquille O’Neal holds Ben Simmons responsible for undoing player empowerment by Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan

The Inside the NBA crew have had extended discussions about Ben Simmons and how his actions are affecting the NBA fraternity at large. Shaq has repeatedly stated how his holdout will encourage the owners to drive a hard bargain in the next CBA.

Shaquille O’Neal took to the Big Podcast with Shaq to voice his opinion in a clearer light recently. The 3-time Finals MVP and 4-time champion knows a thing or two about unfair and fair criticisms, having been panned for his free throw bricks his entire career:

“Let me tell you why I’m pis**d off. Magic (Johnson) paved the way for Michael Jordan. Mike paved the way for me to get all that bread I was getting. I paved the way for (Kevin Garnett). Ben Simmons is messing the money up!”

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There isn’t an iota of falsehood in Shaq’s statements. No team would want to make a long-term financial commitment in the form of max contracts to players if the players could just not hold up their end of the bargain, leaving cities hostage to their whims at times.