TJ McConnell was a fan-favorite during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Pacers’ point guard joined “The Bell Ringer” podcast and talked about his time in Philly and his former teammates Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, among several topics.
“I look at it as when you’re a great talent, a great player, like those two are, you’re going to face criticism. People are going to nitpick your game, no matter what it is. Do I think it’s fair? Absolutely not,” McConnel said, per USA Today.
Simmons is facing negative reactions because of his lack of shooting despite doing everything else on the floor for the 76ers per McConnell.
“He does everything at such an elite level and that’s what happens. People are going to nitpick the one thing that you struggle with and he works and works and works and that’s all you can really ask for,” McConnell continued. “He is elite at just about everything else. He runs a team, gets people involved, he can defend, and there’s no such thing as a perfect player. He’s been great up to this point and he’s continuing to work. That’s all you can really ask for.”
For the Pacers guard, the criticism always comes with the ‘territory’ of being great and he believes that Joel Embiid is the best “big” in today’s game.
“With Joel, I think he is the most dominant big in our game today and from inside and out. Like I said, do I think the criticisms are fair? No, but it comes with the territory of being a great player,” he added.
Here’s the full episode of the “Bell Ringer Podcast”.
