Ben Simmons slammed as the ‘weakest, most pathetic excuse for an athlete in sports history’

Ben Simmons was belted from pillar to post by pundits on Monday and even his own team has given up on the Aussie NBA star.

If you are sick and tired of hearing about the Ben Simmons situation, you can only imagine what the stakeholders at the Brooklyn Nets must be feeling.

The New York Post reports NBA insider Brian Windhorst, speaking on ESPN’s Get Up, said Simmons is not a “sympathetic figure” due to the choices he’s made this season, and laid out the Nets’ fatigue with his decision to sit out Game 4 of their playoff series against Boston with what he has attributed to back pain popping back up.

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“Your immediate reaction is he just doesn’t want to play in a series that’s 3-0. I’ll be honest with you — that was my first reaction,” Windhorst said.

“When I talked to people involved, they were exasperated. They said he woke up, his back hurt and he wasn’t able to play. There wasn’t much more to say. They’re pretty much waving the white flag on this one. It’s extraordinarily disappointing.”

Windhorst said the Nets were “clinging” to optimism that Simmons could be a difference-maker after the first two games in Boston were so close, and that the Aussie star himself had been very positive on the idea of playing for the previous five or six days.

“To have that ripped away — extremely upsetting,” Windhorst said.

The segment had begun with a clip of US sportscaster Stephen A. Smith speaking on ESPN’s NBA playoff studio show from over the weekend, saying that rules were going to be changed in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement after what we’ve seen from Simmons and his Nets teammate Kyrie Irving this season with regards to games played — or not played.

Simmons hasn’t played a game this season. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Smith continued harping on Simmons on First Take, saying he “might also be the weakest, most pathetic excuse for a professional athlete we’ve ever seen in not just American history but the history of sport”.

Unless the Nets mount a miraculous comeback from down 3-0 against the Celtics, we are going to be treated to a long off-season of commentary about how they squandered their considerable talent and what, if anything, they can do to retool for next year.

Meanwhile, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal isn’t buying Simmons’ excuse.

“In the hood we call this a punk move,” Shaq said during Inside the NBA on TNT.

“You know, when things are going good, ‘Oh yeah I’m going to play in Game 4’. Now that (the Nets) lost, ‘My back hurts’. Well, if your back hurts, get some Icy Hot. I’ll send it to you.

“We call this a punk move. Listen, if you’re not ready to play, you’d get more respect from the people if you just say, ‘I’m not ready to play’ and don’t say nothing else. Don’t be shooting and saying, ‘I’m coming back’.

“If you’re not going to play, don’t say you’re going to play. I think you should play.

“I think you should step up to the challenge and help your team win. But no, the punk move … we all know what that is. Guys that live this life, we know exactly what you’re doing buddy.”

O’Neal’s latest criticism of Simmons came after he called him a “crybaby” in February, and said he doesn’t “respect” him.

This story first appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission