Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons has sat out the entire 2021-22 NBA season thus far in an attempt to force a trade from his current team.
Unsurprisingly, the talented youngster has faced a lot of criticism for his decision from fans and many around the league. One person who recently chimed in on the issue was Los Angeles Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal has now claimed that Simmons privately messaged him about the criticism. It appears Simmons was angered that O’Neal joined in on the hate. Both of them attended Louisiana State University during their respective times in college.
"He acting like a baby.”@Shaq went IN on Ben Simmons and says the Sixers star DM'd him mad for comments Shaq recently made on @NBAonTNT
More on #TheBigPodcast: https://t.co/v263O0hCCc pic.twitter.com/LGl9dtOYHJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 3, 2022
“He kinda got in my DM and said some things, and I said some things back,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal then said he wasn’t going to get into the particulars of the conversation the two had. However, he did add that Simmons was “mad.”
It is unclear what will happen with Simmons for the rest of the season. Though the 76ers surely would love to move Simmons for another star player, they have thus far been unable to do so.
Meanwhile, it seems clear that Simmons is in no rush to retake the floor with his 76ers teammates.
If Philadelphia is unable to move Simmons before the trade deadline next week, however, it will be interesting to see if the tune changes on either side.
For now, it looks like Simmons will simply have to deal with the consequences of his actions and listen to the occasional criticism. Knowing O’Neal, it seems very unlikely that any conversation will keep him from speaking his mind.
