Hopefully, Ben Simmons stays off social media for the next two weeks.
The Philadelphia 76ers star point guard is the main target of everybody’s frustrations after losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Sunday night to the Atlanta Hawks.
Simmons scored five points in 35 minutes in Philadelphia’s 103-96 loss. What makes it worse is that he was 2-for-4 from the field and 1-for-2 from the foul line. He scored one point in the fourth quarter – from the foul line – and did not have a field-goal attempt.
Overall, he finished the series averaging 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game.
“I ain’t shoot well from the line this series,” Simmons told reporters after the game, via ESPN. “Offensively, I wasn’t there. I didn’t do enough for my teammates. … There’s a lot of things that I need to work on.”
“The first thing I’m going to do is clear my mind and get my mental right. You got to be mentally tough. You can’t take games for granted. Especially in the playoffs. Every game matters. Every possession matters,” he said.
TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t have cared any less about his excuses as he threatened he would’ve been violent towards him if he was in his locker room.
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“If he was in my locker room I would have knocked his a– out. I don’t want to hear that, get out of my face with that.”
On Saturday, O’Neal advised Simmons to “man up” and do something for the team.
“If I played Game 1 and 2 and I know I’m not helping my teammates, what do you think I’m going to do in Game 3? It don’t take seven games to realize that, I don’t wanna hear that man,” the NBA legend said. “It don’t take seven games for you to know that you’re not playing right, get right. He didn’t get double-teamed, just be aggressive, that’s all I want. I don’t want to hear all that, stop that.
He clearly did not listen.
