Doc Rivers Admits He Doesn't Know If Ben Simmons Is A Championship Player

BYCole BlakeUpdated on September 26, 20226.2K Views

Ben Simmons, Doc Rivers

76ers coach Doc Rivers said he's unsure whether Ben Simmons is a championship-caliber player after the team's Game 7 loss.

Philidelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers admitted that he's unsure if Ben Simmons can play point guard at the level required to compete for a championship, following the team's Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Sunday. Although the team was able to hold Trae Young to an uncharacteristically inefficient performance, the 76ers lost 103-96.

"Can Ben Simmons be the point guard of a championship team?" a reporter asked Rivers after the game.

"I don't know the answer to that," Rivers responded candidly.

When speaking about Simmons later in the press conference, he added: “I still believe in him."

Rob Carr / Getty Images

Simmons finished with just five points despite being one of the highest-paid players in the league. He failed to surpass eight points in each of the 76ers' last three games.

"We lost, it sucks, I am who I am, it is what it is, it's not easy to win...first thing I'm going to do is clear my mind and get my mental right," Simmons said after the loss.

Despite his poor scoring performance, Simmons recorded 13 assists in the game.

The Hawks will take on the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1406809054463266818
https://twitter.com/_/status/1406807280759226368
https://twitter.com/_/status/1406803883121381379

[Via]

About The Author

Cole Blake

Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.