Ben Simmons has not played a single game for the Nets since getting traded to the team from the 76ers just before the trade deadline.
There was some hope that he would suit up when the playoffs begin, yet he remained inactive. According to NBA analyst Ric Bucher, the 26-year-old point guard was asked in Brooklyn’s group chat whether he will play in Game 4 of the first round series against the Celtics.
The Nets were down 0-3 and were going to play a do-or-die game. Bucher told that Simmons left the chat after the question was asked. He did not play and Brooklyn was swept 4-0 by Boston.
The former number one pick received criticism from some notable names such as Shaquille O’Neal for not helping his team on the court when it mattered the most.
Via Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report:
Ben Simmons reportedly didn’t appreciate it when his Brooklyn Nets teammates asked him if he planned on playing during the team’s first-round exit against the Boston Celtics. “They’re having a team chat before Game 4, thinking he’s going to play against the Celtics, and from what I’m told, Ben just left the chat,” Ric Bucher told Colin Cowherd on FS1’s The Herd last week (8:30 mark). “They asked him, ‘Are you going to play?’ Ben left the chat. Like he didn’t even answer the question. Just left the chat.”
