Ben Simmons has played just 15 games this season and will not add to that total after being ruled out for the remainder of the campaign by the Brooklyn Nets
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is baffled by fellow LSU alumni Ben Simmons continuing to earn millions of dollars despite barely playing a game in recent years.
Simmons, who is 27, has only played 15 games this year and won’t play any more due to a nerve problem in his lower back. The Brooklyn Nets said earlier this month that Simmons, who was the No.1 NBA Draft pick in 2016, won’t play again this season.
Simmons, who’s been an All-Star three times, has had a microscopic partial discectomy. After missing all of the 2021-22 season, citing mental health issues and then problems with his back, he also had a similar operation to take out a small piece of a herniated disc.
But O’Neal hasn’t shown any sympathy for Simmons after his latest problem, even though they’re the only two No. 1 overall picks from LSU in the history of the league. When he heard live on Inside the NBA that Simmons would miss the rest of the season, O’Neal started crumpling paper as host Earnie Johnson Jr. read the news during the show.
Now, weeks later, on the most recent episode of “The Big Podcast” that he hosts with TNT’s Adam Lefkoe, O’Neal teased Simmons without being asked. When Lefkoe asked him to name the players he’d pay to watch because they’re entertaining, he immediately said: “Ben Simmons.”
His co-host and the episode’s guest Jamal Crawford laughed as O’Neal explained why he said it. “Because I would wanna learn how you can make $80 million and play 55 games,” he said.
“Teach me. Teach me how you can f***ing play 55 games in three seasons and get $30m, $40m, and get another $40m just by saying your back hurt. Get some f***ing icy hot, man up.”
Ben Simmons has actually played a bit more than Shaq said, appearing in 57 games over the past three years. But if he doesn’t play again this season, as many think, he will have missed 189 games since his last time on the court for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals Game 7.
O’Neal also mentioned that Simmons has made over $100 million during this period. Next season, he’s set to make another $40 million in the last year of his big contract that started after his first deal ended in summer 2020.
Even with his back issues, Simmons seems happy in Brooklyn or somewhere on the East Coast. He hinted at this when talking about selling his big $17.5 million house in Los Angeles, which has been up for sale since last year. “This is a beautiful home that I’ve enjoyed, but because I spend most of my time on the East Coast, sadly, it often goes unused,” said Simmons. “It’s time to move on.”
