Shaquille O’Neal held no punches ripping in to Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons about his play, or rather lack there of all season long. On the latest Inside The NBA broadcast, O’Neal eithered Simmons without even saying his name.
“The difference between [Embiid] and his soft partner is [Embiid] can take criticism without being a crybaby, and he still wants to play,” Shaq said of Simmons.
This isn’t the first time that O’Neal has publicly criticized Simmons, as he also said something similar before the season started.
“One, he’s not showing up. As a player, you have to be able to be real with yourself,” O’Neal said at the time. “You need to be aggressive and he definitely got exposed last year in the playoffs, he didn’t want to shoot. You have to look in the mirror and say ‘Am I as good as I can be?’ He’s going about it all wrong,”
O’Neal isn’t all wrong for feeling this way. The 76ers are currently 10 games over 500 without Simmons and really could have used his services this season. The fact that he is willing to sit out the entire season because of a poor playoff showing last year isn’t a good look. It’s also probably why the 76ers are having a hard time moving him.
