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Nets’ Ben Simmons gets mocked by NBA HOFer Shaquille O’Neal

Sharif Phillips-Keaton
·2 min read
29

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is currently out for the rest of this season due to the nerve impingement in his left lower back not getting better with treatment. He recently had surgery to address his back issue and as such, Simmons is still looking for answers to his injury question.

In the meantime, there are some in the media who look at Simmons’ recent bout of injuries as something of a money grab as opposed to a player struggling to stay healthy. In a episode of “The Big Podcast” that was published recently, NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal said that he would pay to watch Simmons play basketball, but not for the reasons that most people would watch a player.

O’Neal said that he would pay to watch Simmons on the basketball court because he wants to learn “how you can make $80 million and play 55 games.” O’Neal was referring to how Simmons has played in 57 games over the past three seasons despite being paid $33 million, $35 million, and $37 million over that time span.

Simmons, 27, signed a five-year, $177 million extension in July 2019 while he was still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and was coming off his first All-Star appearance. Since signing that extension, Simmons made All-Defensive first team twice, two All-Star appearances, and made All-NBA third team once.

However, things began to go downhill for Simmons after the 2018-19 season as he played in 57 of 73 games in the 2019-20 campaign and in 58 of 72 games in the 2020-21 season before missing the entire 2021-22 campaign due to a combination of a holdout and a back injury that required surgery.

What makes Simmons such a polarizing player is the fact that he was considered to be one of the NBA’s great, young players as he was being compared to the great LeBron James at one point in his career. However, Simmons has dealt with a multitude of injuries since then that have prevented him from seeing the floor, let alone getting back to his prior All-Star form.

Story originally appeared on Nets Wire