Ben Simmons’ career trajectory hasn’t been a fun one. After a Rookie of the Year award and comparisons to Magic Johnson and LeBron James, two surgeries to his back have effectively ended what could have been a very successful prime. Simmons’ career is slowly getting back on track now, and he is finding his footing with the Brooklyn Nets. But fan hate has been hard on him. His attempts to leave the 76ers and his sitting out games from back injuries have caused a lot of NBA viewers to form a poor opinion of the Australian point guard.
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He feels it’s an unfair one, however, and took to The Young Man and the Three to defend himself. Speaking to fellow Net Cam Johnson and host Tommy Alter, Simmons claimed he hasn’t done a lot to deserve the hate he’s getting.
He spoke about how he’s just a regular person and would be nice to hang out with. He went on to claim that his reserved lifestyle was the reason he got a lot of hate. He pointed out how he’s not one to appear on podcasts or NBA shows a lot, so people have formed a biased opinion of him. He said,
“My favorite thing is like, majority of the time, I feel like most people would actually enjoy hanging out with me. I feel like I’m a f*****g nice guy. I think I’m pretty funny, I like to have a good time, I’m pretty sure we’d get along. I don’t come on podcasts a lot, I don’t post a lot, I don’t talk often. So people don’t know. People have no idea.”
Simmons is notoriously shut off from the media, and even on his socials, he isn’t very active. This distance from the fans allows them to form opinions of their own, and with him not there to deny them, these opinions spread like wildfire on the internet.
Ben Simmons claims he’s a fun guy
After Johnson and Alter claimed Simmons was “just normal,” he laughed in agreement. He added that there’s a vast difference between his in-game and off-court personality, which is understandable. As a competitor, he has to be razor-focused on the court and can afford no space for distractions.
But, as he claimed himself, Ben Simmons is a funny guy. He’s easygoing, and someone who (in his own words) is great to hang out with. This is further proven by how Johnson and Alter acted with him while on camera. There were no awkward silences, and the three of them had a ton of laughs.
