Ben Simmons’ claim about being the best defender in the NBA took less than 48 hours to age pretty poorly.
Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers faced Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. With Simmons as his primary defender, Booker exploded for 36 points on 14-for-23 shooting as Phoenix won the game 120-111.
Twitter then came at Simmons with the meme treatment, especially since Simmons had just been talking up his elite defense after the last game that the Sixers played.
Ben Simmons: "I'm the best defender in the NBA."
Devin Booker after lighting him up for 36 points: pic.twitter.com/96Tib9Zbnu
— #RingerNBA (@ringernba) February 13, 2021
Ben Simmons: Tries to stay in defensive player of the year contention
Devin Booker dropping 36: pic.twitter.com/n8hKxT8N7z
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) February 13, 2021
Ben Simmons: "I'm the best defender in the NBA
Devin Booker: pic.twitter.com/TlbmisqE6f
— Solentos (@Solentos) February 13, 2021
Adding another juicy layer of complexity to the matchup was the fact that Booker is currently dating Kendall Jenner, who is Simmons’ ex-girlfriend. That much was certainly not lost on Twitter either.
Devin Booker really stole Ben Simmons’ girl and then dropped 36 on his head pic.twitter.com/24s71iQkyU
— Guru (@DrGuru_) February 13, 2021
Devin Booker and Ben Simmons got this underlying Kendall Jenner animosity to this matchup
— jimmy (@jimmy_c110) February 13, 2021
“KENDALL SAYS HI” – booker on that last 3 over Simmons head
— BK (@blakekimball) February 13, 2021
Between Simmons’ “best defender” claim and the amount of time Booker has been spending with Jenner lately, he probably made it a point to come out on Saturday with a vengeance
