Ben Simmons has had to answer for a lot this season.
Ben Simmons has not had a particularly good start to the NBA season. Simmons has struggled in the early going, and he has appeared timid at the rim. In fact, Simmons’ first double-digit point game was just last night in a 30-point loss to Sacramento. Needless to say…not good.
Now, things seem to be going from bad to worse for Simmons. This is all thanks to a new piece from Shams Charania which details how some on the Nets are skeptical of Simmons’ passion for the game of basketball. It was a scathing report that showcases how Simmons has yet to impress his new teammates.
While speaking to Shams Charania, Simmons explained that injuries have a lot to do with how he’s played so far. He feels like his back issue has been hard to come back from. For Simmons, he has always had to deal with skepticism, and he knows better than to try and control the narrative. Instead, he just wants to go out and play his game.
“There’s only so much I can really do (about perception),” Ben Simmons said. “You can’t make people believe, you know? They weren’t there when I was on the floor and couldn’t walk (because of his back). They weren’t there when I was in the ambulance getting taken to the hospital (after a Feb. 22, 2020 game at Milwaukee). People weren’t there, so they don’t know. That was the first episode I had against Milwaukee. That was the original trigger of it…right before COVID, the start of my back issues.
“But that’s a part of my journey. There’s times when I couldn’t walk. I had a dead foot. Couldn’t sleep. A lot of stuff was going on with me, physically, to where it was tough. But there’s only so much I can say for somebody to believe, you know?”
There has been building frustration surrounding Nets star Ben Simmons’ availability and level of play, sources say. Simmons: “I get (the skepticism), but I think the one thing with me is that I’m a competitor.”
Story with @sam_amick at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/EwdqFsimcu
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 16, 2022
No matter what, this is a bad look for Ben Simmons. He is already coming into this season with a disadvantage, and he has done very little to repair his image. Only time will tell whether or not he can officially turn things around for himself.
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