MY ACCOUNT
Ben Simmons acknowledges that part of being Ben Simmons means he is going to hear plenty of criticism via social media.
The Brooklyn Nets swingman, who has often been on the wrong end of tough criticism, also understands that it is just social media and he can’t let it bother him.
The 26-year-old once again received plenty of jibes after a video of him airballing a shot during an event in a Brooklyn park on Sunday went viral.
It was just another instance of insults directed at the former number one overall pick, but he understands he just has to brush it off.
“It finds me all the time,” Simmons told ESPN prior to Wednesday night’s preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks. “And it doesn’t f—ing stop. Sometimes I’m even sick of it, but then I’m like, ‘OK, I’m Ben Simmons, you know? It comes with being Ben Simmons right now’.
“Even the other day there was a clip of me airballing a shot at the park. Meanwhile, like 10 guys airballed multiple shots. So it’s like people will find one clip and try to make it that everything – like Ben can’t do [this or that].
“Like come on man, you think I’m just airballing every shot? It’s not true. But it comes with it, and you got to have tough skin and I realize that, but nah, I can’t take everything personally. It’s social media.”
And there has been plenty of hostility aimed his way over social media in the last 16 months – despite him not playing a game in that time.
In the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, he was ridiculed mercilessly for passing up a wide-open dunk late in the Philadelphia 76ers’ Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
That was his final game for the Sixers, as he sat out last season due to mental health concerns while being called soft by his critics. He then never suited up for the Nets after being acquired at the trade deadline due to a lingering back injury.
Simmons, though, tells himself the reason he is on the receiving end of so much mockery is because he can still produce at a high level on the court.
“Because people know what I can do, what I’m capable of,” Simmons said. “I believe that’s what it is. Like if I was somebody that wasn’t capable of doing certain things, I don’t think people would be on my ass as much.
“And I don’t mind it because it kind of motivates me in a way. Obviously, sometimes it’s a lot for anybody to deal with that, but I look at it a little bit like a respect thing, in a way.”
