Ben Simmons has been the NBA's punching bag over the last few days in light of his performance in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks. Fans were disappointed with the Simmons' entire postseason and moving forward, there are rumors that he could be out of Philly as soon as the free agency period hits. Following Game 7, numerous pundits and former players have given their takes on Simmons and how he came up short this season thanks to his fear of shooting the ball.
Recently, NBA legend Scottie Pippen gave his take on Simmons in an interview with GQ. As you can imagine, Pippen was quite harsh on the Sixers star and claimed the player was a "failure" in the end. While Pippen believes Simmons can be good, he felt as though Doc Rivers put him in a position to fail.
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“If Ben Simmons miss a free throw, he gonna start passing it before he get to the free throw line on the other end,” Pippen said. “He didn’t even wanna cross half court with the basketball because he was so afraid of being humiliated going to that foul line. That’s why he didn’t try to make that dunk at the end of the game. He’s been doing it all year, bro.”
Pippen knows what it takes to win in the playoffs and clearly, Simmons just didn't have it. While Simmons can still improve, it's going to take a lot of work, and his shot won't just magically get good overnight. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see what the Sixers decide to do.
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