NBA star Ben Simmons hasn’t had a great few years. First, he asked for a transfer from the Philadelphia 76ers despite having four years left on his contract.
Then because
he was seemingly frustrated at not getting traded, Simmons missed the 76ers’ training camp and pre-games, and eventually, stopped playing altogether due to not being “prepared mentally.”
Simmons was ultimately traded to Brooklyn’s team, the Nets, but faced a stark amount of criticism online for his behaviour pre-trade; he also received an extremely hostile reception when he went to Philly earlier this year.
Simmons has also not played a single game for his new team, the Nets, due to a back injury.
This back injury meant that Simmons could not play in Game 4 for the Nets – a game where the Nets were beaten by the Celtics by just four points – and, again, Simmons was condemned online for not playing.
Even former NBA pro-basketballer Reggie Miller was unimpressed with Simmons and sent out a Tweet implying that Simmons has no fire in him.
Cmon MAN!!! Out for Game 4 when it was rumored you were going to make your debut. This dude has ZERO competitive ?.. As small a chance as the Nets have to come back in this series, you still have KD and Kyrie, all you need is to win ONE game and take it from there.. #ManUppic.twitter.com/Y5smcnQkqZ
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) April 24, 2022
Now it seems that prior to Game 4, Simmons spent 23 hours straight playing COD (Call of Duty). A Tweet from user Broad Street Buddies has an attached screenshot of Simmons’ supposed PlayStation Network (PSN) account that shows the basketball player was playing COD and that he’d been doing so for 23 hours and 3 minutes…
Ben Simmons is 23 hours deep on his Call Of Duty game.
h/t Seth Curry's discord server (link in replies) pic.twitter.com/mPNuCZlPSA
— Broad Street Buddies (@BroadStBuddies) April 10, 2022
Of course, fans chimed in. One Twitter user suggested that Simmons doesn’t have an injury at all and sarcastically replied, “bad back? Sure man,” while another defended Simmons (sort of) by writing, “I hate the dude but he could have been AFK [away from keyboard – meaning the game was on but Simmons wasn’t actually playing for the entire time elapsed].”
One Twitter user simply wrote, “Ben Simmons is a disgrace to sports.” Ouch.
If I’m being honest, I think it’s fairly normal that Simmons is playing video games while he’s off with an injury; wouldn’t any other 25-year-old in a similar situation spend their time the same way? And hell, it’s actually kind of impressive if he did actually play for 23 hours without a break. Maybe Simmons should become a pro-gamer instead…
Read Next