Ben Simmons torches ‘disrespectful’ claim he’s robbing NBA teams

Australian NBA player Ben Simmons has taken aim at online accusations as he prepares for his ninth season in the league.

Ben Simmons doesn’t know how long he’ll be playing in Brooklyn.

He doesn’t even know how long he’ll be playing in the NBA.

But for as long as he’s with these young Nets, he says he wants to lead them, the NY Post reports.

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For a three-time All-Star — the only All-Star on this rebuilding roster — that should be a given.

But with Simmons, few things have been given lately.

Not his next contract. Or his availability. Or his health, physical or mental.

Simmons has missed 189 of 246 games over the prior three seasons with mental health issues and nerve impingements that forced two microscopic partial discectomies, the second in March.

His lack of availability prompted online hate, including accusations that he was perfectly healthy and stealing money.

“People make comments saying I’m robbing. No. When I got that contract, I was playing at a super high level. Unfortunately, I had injuries,” he said.

“But for somebody to say that, it’s disrespectful. (But) people can say what they want to say. They’ve got to live with it. At the end of the day it all catches up with you.”

Simmons hit back at online trolls. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP

It’s impossible to talk about Simmons without talking about the twin elephants in the room: his contract and his back.

He’s acutely aware that many fans feel his best contribution to the Nets will be leaving, with a $A59.7 million expiring contract that can depart next summer.

He’s aware enough that he’s taken the steps of largely avoiding social media and Twitter altogether.

Now that he says his back is finally healthy, he wants to keep his headspace that way, too.

And that means avoiding online bile.

“To me, being on a social media platform where you’re just taking in what everybody’s saying, I don’t think that’s healthy for anybody to just be reading things about themselves,” Simmons said. “For me, I don’t personally go on Twitter just because I don’t find any use in it.”

Simmons is reportedly healthy ahead of the new season. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Despite all of the online backlash, Simmons is out to be a leader for the Nets as he heads into his ninth season in the league.

“We have a younger team that I want to help these guys get better. I want to lead by example. I want to compete,” Simmons said.

“Jordi (Fernandez, coach) is coming in first year. It’s a big year for him. I want to be a leader on this team.

“So f*** what happens next year, and what contract I get, if I get a contract. I want to do my job while I’m here and be professional and help these guys in any way I can. So who knows? I want to play as long as my body will allow me.

“So if it’s one year, five years, six years, I don’t know what it is. But I just want to keep going until I can’t anymore.”

Simmons doesn’t have a contract for next season. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP

The Nets coach said the Aussie is in a good place and is showing up for the team every day ahead of the 2024/25 season.

“A healthy Ben Simmons is a very, very good player — that’s what I focus on,” Fernandez said.

“I don’t have social media. I know that at the end of the day, social media brings the worst out of people, because if you want to be heard you have to say something negative. And always one negative trumps 10 positives. (But) I’m happy with where Ben is, how he’s showing up every day.”

That’s a huge improvement. Tuesday’s pre-season-opening loss to the Clippers marked Simmons’ first live action since Feb. 26.

Simmons was back in action for the first time in around eight months. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Forced to play center due to the absence of Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe, he shot 1 of 5 and still didn’t go hard to the rim.

But when he got on the ball in the second quarter, he led a Nets blitz to get back in the game.

With spacing a non-issue due to the absence of a traditional big clogging the lane, Simmons ran the break at a blistering pace. Sometimes too blistering.

“For sure. We’ve got to catch up to him. He’s really good at that, and getting guys involved,” Ziaire Williams said.

“He sees the floor extremely well. His IQ is definitely next level, one of the best in the league at it. So yeah, man, we got to play off of him. … guys are new. We’ll get there.”

The Nets are hopeful the All-Star player will return. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

On a team with few shot creators, running the lanes and filling the corners will be key to maximise what Simmons does.

At least, a healthy Simmons.

“Yeah, when he rebounds and pushes, I don’t think a lot of our guys are used to playing with him yet,” Fernandez said. “He beat everybody down the floor. He was already in the paint and nobody was there with him. So we’ve gotta make sure that we’re ready to catch, because he’s going to throw you the ball. We’re ready to run to the corners, because he’ll find you and then you gotta be ready to shoot.

“Yeah, a healthy Ben Simmons is a very, very, very, very good basketball player. Three-time All-Star. That’s what we got right now.”

The Brooklyn Nets kick off their 2024/25 season against the Atlanta Hawks on October 24 at 10:30am AEDT.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Ben Simmons torches ‘disrespectful’ claim he’s robbing NBA teams