Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons was minding his business looking for sweets at IT’SUGAR, a popular candy store, when a “fan” presumably was excited to see the 6-foot-10 All-Star. The man ran up to Simmons, gave him dap and then things went sideways. He started calling Simmons Russell Westbrook and trolling him for not being able to shoot.
“Oh my God. It’s you, bro!” the man said on the clip. “Russell Westbrook, bro! Russell Westbrook, bro! Oh my God, bro!”
LMFAOOOO pic.twitter.com/3RFWfo53bP
— Real NBA Quotez (@RealNBAQuotez) August 18, 2022
Simmons gave the man the screw face and said, “Don’t play with me. Don’t play with me.”
The men with Simmons, presumably bodyguards, began to advance toward the man to get him to walk away. The troll had one more parting shot.
“You can’t shoot bro,” the man said. “Sorry, bro!”
Cool. On to more pressing matters.
NBA training camps open next month, and what is going on in Brooklyn? As of right now we believe Simmons will be in training camp, recovered from his back surgery and ready to begin play in his first season with the team.
But what about Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving?
The former demanded a trade earlier this summer despite the fact that he is just starting a four-year, $194 million contract extension.
The latter opted into the last year of his deal, and while he hasn’t demanded to be traded, his proclivity to disappear whenever he feels like makes him less than the ideal teammate.
The Nets are a season removed from Durant nearly upsetting the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks, yet everything since those 2021 playoffs has been a disaster in Brooklyn.
Team governor Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks want to regain control of the organization after turning it over to Durant and Irving in 2019, and kowtowing to every demand they made.
Turns out letting players control a franchise is not a great idea. Who knew?
The situation in Brooklyn is toxic. Durant, who publicly called for the firing of Marks and head coach Steve Nash — the latter of whom he endorsed in 2020 — was a line of demarcation.
There is no way you can have Durant and Irving in training camp next month. How does that first conversation with Nash go? “Hey, Steve, what’s new with you?”
It’s also a bad environment for a team with young players looking to establish themselves in the league or players that need stability to produce their best basketball.
If you’re Ben Simmons and all of this is going on and you already have performance anxiety on the floor, how does this help? A trade demand by the team’s best player is essentially an indictment on Simmons as a teammate. Durant has no faith in him.
Given Simmons’ track record, specifically last season, you could say that’s warranted. But no matter how you slice it, this situation in Brooklyn is not an environment conducive for success.
