Opinion
To paraphrase the Pulp Fiction wisdom of Jules Winfield when it comes to the latest chapter in the Ben Simmons saga, we’ve been trying, Ringo, trying real hard to be the shepherd but you keep straying from the flock.
As much as Australian basketball fans want to like Simmons, it’s become impossible to keep defending him.
If only opposition players were saying the same when he has the ball in his hands on court.
His latest act of petulance was posting a picture to his Instagram account of his TV screen displaying a 108-78 scoreline late in the fourth quarter of his old team Philadelphia’s game-seven loss to Boston in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
There was a glass of red wine next to a wine bottle in the foreground and no caption but the message was loud and clear – he was taking great delight in the 76ers collapsing when a spot in the East finals was there for the taking.
Simmons was blamed for their game-seven exit at the same stage of the playoffs two years earlier when he passed to Matisse Thybulle instead of taking an easy dunk, such was his fear about being fouled and having to shoot free throws.
He was trying to show he wasn’t the only reason Philly kept falling short in the post-season but in actual fact all he did was show that he’s still immature and not owning up to his own shortcomings.
This is a guy who, after sitting out most of last season, still didn’t play at all after being traded to Brooklyn as he continually said he was close to being ready but never suited up.
And this is a guy who, after actually suiting up for the Nets this season, averaged a woeful 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 26.3 minutes per game despite being on one of the more lucrative contracts in the NBA.
He’s the one who said he had been working hard to improve his weaknesses – most notably a lack of a jump-shot and a pitiful free throw percentage.
Despite all the supposed hard work in the gym and carefully curated social media videos about the 26-year-old supposedly putting in the work, he was anaemic on offence.
His field goal percentage of 56.6% doesn’t look terrible but it should be a lot higher when you refuse to shoot from beyond arm’s length of the rim.
And all that practice he put in at the charity stripe? He averaged a career-low 43.9% at the line for the Nets.
Some people earn the right to sledge. He has not.
If he had have actually rediscovered something resembling the form that took him to All-Star and All-NBA honours, then the 2016 No.1 overall pick could talk as much as trash as he liked.
But not when you are a walking triple single.
What Simmons really needs is a dose of national service. The Boomers kind, that is.
A few walks down Fair Dinkum Avenue in conversations with senior statesmen like Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova to realise exactly what’s expected from our national sports stars.
Ben Simmons in action for the Australian Boomers in 2013. (Photo by Sandra Mu/Getty Images)
The Boomers have graciously left the door open for him to be a late addition to their World Cup squad even though he was not named in the original 18-man squad last week which will be cut to 12 prior to the tournament starting in Japan in September.
Second-guessing the judgement of Brian Goorjian is punishable by stoning in Australian basketball circles so there will be no questioning the motives of the Boomers mentor here.
The ongoing back injury, which brought a premature end to Simmons’ Nets season, is the main question mark, not attitude, according to Goorjian.
Australia will take on Brazil, Venezuela and South Sudan to warm up for the World Cup at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena in mid August and also have a training camp in Cairns.
“Nothing’s changed all the way through,” Goorjian told reporters on Friday in Melbourne at the announcement of the four-team tournament. “He didn’t play the finish of this season, and he definitely wants to be back. This will be great for him, great for us, and it’s all about health and he’s working right now to get healthy for the camp.”
The Boomers, who are ranked third in the world as they chase more medals after their bronze breakthrough at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, don’t necessarily need Simmons and the distractions he will inevitably bring.
There are already 10 NBA players in the green and gold fold: Ingles, Mills, Dellavedova, Josh Giddey, Jock Landale, Josh Green, Jack White, Dyson Daniels, Matisse Thybulle and Xavier Cooks.
And not even those stars are guaranteed selection such is the intense competition for places.
It will be tough for Goorjian to tell six of his initial squad that they won’t be going to the World Cup, a seventh shouldn’t get the bad news just because Simmons wants to swan back in for his first Boomers appearance in a decade.
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