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A few Brooklyn Nets players have raved about how healthy Ben Simmons looked in training camp. The team has even posted clips featuring the Australian running plays and throwing lobs to teammates. To add more excitement to the training camp, the Nets held a free-throw competition after every practice.
Erik Slater, a Nets reporter, informed basketball fans on social media that the tournament followed “a golf scoring system,” where the contender with the lowest score wins. Dorian Finney-Smith topped the scoreboard with a -27. Six off of him was Dennis Schroder with -21. Simmons' 11 was the worst among 20 players.
Fans promptly reacted to the scores on X (formerly Twitter).
“Lmaooo those Ben Simmons pre-season tapes hitting reality now,” one said.
“Ben Simmons should be forced to shoot 1000 FT per day,” @NothingButNet44 insisted.
“Of course Ben Simmons, the highest-paid player on the payroll is last,” one fan wrote.
“The fact that Ben is there and not nursing a phantom injury is a bigger story than his performance,” said another fan, who saw a glimmer of hope in the situation.
Simmons’ last two years in the NBA came with significant preseason hype. He was on Instagram before the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns telling fans how ready he was to play. The Australian didn’t go on IG this season, but he told reporters during the Nets’ media day:
“I can play basketball. I’m pretty good.”
When healthy, the former Philadelphia 76ers star still has to fix his confidence and shooting stroke. He has hardly looked at the rim over the last two seasons and averaged 43.1% from the free-throw line during that span.
Patrick Beverley called out Ben Simmons for his workout videos
Patrick Beverley has taken his talents to Israel to play for Hapoel Tel Aviv, but he remains updated about the NBA. In “The Pat Bev Podcast,” the feisty guard took a shot at the Nets’ point-forward for his workout videos:
“You gotta show us, buddy, and you gotta show us for at least 60-some games, buddy. … No more talking. No videos. On the court. I need to see it.
Beverley also called “Big Ben” a corny a** n***a for hyping up fans in the preseason.
