Ben Simmons has continued his swift fall from grace as the Brooklyn Nets guard remains a punching bag for NBA fans. And, well, it seems to be the same case for players in the league, too.
In a story published Tuesday reflecting on the Nets’ trade for Simmons and the downfall of the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, Heavy Sports’ Steve Bulpett shared an incredibly embarrassing story from Simmons’ time with the Philadelphia 76ers.
“The first guy that started the Hack-a-Ben process was Scott Brooks with Washington,” an Eastern Conference coach told Bulpett. “They’re playing Philly a few years ago and Philly’s up by around 20. Brooks starts putting Simmons on the line in the fourth quarter, and the game is getting closer as Ben is stepping to the line and bricking more and more foul shots. So finally Bradley Beal had to foul him. Usually you don’t have your best player fouling, but at that point he did.”
Beal currently is in his 11th year with the Washington Wizards and is a three-time NBA All-Star.
“When that happened, Ben and Beal had this sort of animated conversation,” the coach said. “Ben said, ‘I’m tired of you (expletives) fouling me on purpose, man. I’m going to step up here and knock these two down. Five thousand dollars says I will.’ To which Beal replied, ‘You wanna make it 20?’ And then he (Simmons) went up and bricked one. I don’t think he said another word.”
Simmons has shot 59.1% from the charity stripe during his career, though is shooting a career worst 43.9% at the line this season with the Nets. His troubles at the line, however, aren’t the only aspect that tends to lead to criticism of Simmons. He’s also ripped for his reluctance to shoot from the outside, depicted as he’s shot merely two 3-pointers in 33 starts this season. He’s a 14% 3-point shooter in his career.
For all the embarrassing stats Simmons compiles, however, perhaps nothing is worse than the criticism from his NBA brethren.
