Ben Simmons was upset with Shaq after the NBA legend continued to criticize him last season following his exit from Philadelphia.
Last season was full of drama for Ben Simmons. He didn’t play for the Philadelphia 76ers and was later traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Following his arrival in Brooklyn, Simmons suffered a back injury and is yet to play for them.
Due to it, Ben Simmons faced a lot of criticism throughout the year from the media. He was visibly upset with what came his way last year and talked about it in his appearance on a podcast with JJ Reddick.
He also talked about Shaq who also criticized him despite their sharing a connection via their college as they both played for LSU. Simmons was frustrated with whatever Shaq talked about him despite referring to Simmons as an LSU brother.
Talking about it, Simmons said, “It’s kind of ignorant in turns like Shaq and Chuck sometimes what they’re saying and because they have a platform to kind of like protect us and you know you do good um obviously they’re supposed to you know criticize us.”
He added, “You know we’re basketball players but when it comes to like personal stuff I think there’s a level of like respect they should have um even Shaq like when I was dealing you know with everything going on I actually messaged him and he put it out and I was like all right.”
Simmons continued, “I’m like Shaq, I was like like why are you saying this if you don’t even know the story because he always wants to say like Yo! we’re LSU Brothers you’re my brother all this that if you’re my LSU brother, you would have reached out by now and it’s been months since I’ve been doing this you ain’t reach out once and say Hey, you okay? like what’s going on the one person who did reach out was Jay Williams and he had a real talk with me.”
Not many people reached out to Simmons last season when he was in one of the worst situations of his life. However, former NBA player Jay Williams did reach out to him, and Simmons was very happy with it.
Talking about it, Simmons said, “I was like I really appreciate that because you know you’re trying to understand what’s going on with me because he did say something then he took it back which I appreciated and I think it’s just the level of like people understanding and not just speaking just to speak not to get clicks or whatever it is so I really respect Jay for that.”
He added, “That was to me that meant more than anything that was going on um but that’s what I that’s what you love to see from you know ex-players and Shaquille O’Neal like I got Shaq hating on me like it’s crazy but yeah that’s I think that’s what it is for me just that level of like understanding respect like don’t talk if you don’t know.”
Simmons is ready to play now, and he is waiting for the new season to start. He is completely locked in and wants to prove all the people wrong who have continuously doubted him over the last year. Hopefully, he’ll be able to return as an all-star this season.
Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving are the players who will be leading the Nets this season. The Nets have what is widely considered to be the best roster in the league, and all of their superstars are expected to return for the upcoming season. As a result, the Nets have a very good chance of winning the championship.
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