Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has been one of the most polarizing figures in the NBA in recent memory. At one point in time during his stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, Simmons was a perennial All-Star who was just building his resume towards becoming what some people called “LeBron 2.0” as he was billed during the NBA Draft process.
Ever since Simmons passed up the dunk in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the Atlanta Hawks, his career has been on a downward trajectory thanks to a combination of mental health issues and injuries to his back and knees.
After being traded to the Nets in the trade that brought James Harden to Philadelphia, Simmons had back surgery to address issues that were reportedly bothering him during his time with the 76ers. However, Simmons played just 42 games during this past season due to a variety of back and knee injuries and when he did play, his performance was underwhelming to say the least. According to Steve Bulpitt of Heavy.com, this is what one Western Conference executive had to say when asked about Simmons:
“But it could always be worse, at least in an individual sense. We leave you with this response from a Western Conference executive when asked about Ben Simmons:
‘I gave up following that (expletive) a long time ago.’
Ouch.”
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