Ben Simmons is taking some time this week to lash out at Patrick Beverley.
The ex-NBA guard Beverley had a notable criticism of Simmons during the latest episode of his self-titled podcast. Beverley said that he felt it was unfair that Simmons was able to return to the NBA after sitting out of last season.
“I don’t think that it’s fair to quit the game of basketball and come back,” said Beverley. “You can quit with not having a ton of success. You can quit because the game is hard and it’s stressful, you’re not playing well, the fans are on you, and the media is on you … I’m not with quitting the game of basketball because it’s hard at the time.”
Beverley also drew a comparison to former NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo, who was still unsuccessful in returning to the league despite multiple comeback attempts after numerous injuries.
That led to a profane response from Simmons himself in the Instagram comments section.
“Walk away??” wrote Simmons. “I played two years not physically right. This ain’t no hand out. I worked my a– off to be in the position. And I’m very grateful to even be in position to play the game I f–king love! Yall will continue to make up stories for your own benefits and that’s more telling about who yall are.”
The former No. 1 overall pick Simmons, now 30, went unsigned for the entire 2025-26 NBA season. But he was able to successfully get a deal from the Sacramento Kings earlier this month for one year and up to $3.5 million.
Simmons’ love for the game has been questioned countless times before, including by one well-known sports personality who once said called for Simmons to be arrested over all the hundreds of millions in salary that he had supposedly stolen. But the three-time All-Star Simmons did indeed play through a bad back for several seasons, and he believes that should say it all when it comes to his work ethic.
