'He's a bum': Shaquille O'Neal blasts NBA star

Ben Simmons' NBA career has hit rock bottom several times in recent years, but an NBA legend's scathing critique of him has further stacked the deck against him.

Shaquille O'Neal told Complex, "Ben Simmons is another bum...if you sign a contract for $250 million, show me 250."

Simmons played college basketball at LSU, where O'Neal also starred, which makes the pointed remark even more interesting. Yahoo Sports noted that since Simmons signed a five-year contract extension worth $177 million, he has only been available to play in 42 percent of his team's games.

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Simmons’ arrival with the Brooklyn Nets signified a fresh start to his career, which has seen many ups and downs. He's shown flashes of the elite-level player he used to be with the Philadelphia 76ers, but has also not participated in most of Brooklyn's games. We'll dive into whether the mercurial forward can ever return to glory. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

While he was a better scorer in Philadelphia than he’s shown to be with the Nets, Simmons’ unique contributions were always more valuable in other areas, as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation highlighted in 2016.

He was excellent at getting his teammates open looks, controlling the glass, and making life miserable for opposing teams’ best offensive players. There’s no reason why Simmons can’t continue to excel in those areas moving forward.

It seems counterintuitive to say that Simmons is no longer under intense scrutiny, playing for a team based in New York City. However, the unrelenting focus on him and the Nets has subsided, since Brooklyn no longer has Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving on the team.

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Since the Nets are just another NBA team, Simmons has less attention to deal with, which may be a good thing.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the nature of Simmons’ injuries the past couple of years. He suffered a back ailment which sapped him of some athleticism. It also seems fair to wonder whether Simmons was emotionally invested in being the best player he could possibly be. Improved physical and mental health could be the impetus for a strong comeback as well.

It feels like NBA fans have had Simmons in their lives forever, but somehow, he’s still just 28 years old. If he’s healthy and dedicated to getting back to his old form, there’s still plenty of time to rewrite a positive narrative.

It’s often said that most players hit their peak between 28-30 anyway, which Simmons still has a chance to reach, as farfetched as it seems.

For many months, it felt like the discussion around Simmons surrounded his past and how it could hamper his future. He would be asked a ton of questions about what went wrong with the 76ers, and how things could have gone differently. Sports Illustrated wrote about how Simmons brushed off inquires about his 76ers tenure.

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This fixation with the past could have been damaging, so the goal for Simmons now should be to focus on the present and the future.

Perhaps due to the back injury and a lack of passion for his craft in the past, Simmons’ ability to command defensive attention was reduced in the last couple of years. He’s going to have to remain in constant motion if he wants to be a positive factor for his team.

His lack of shooting ability will lead teams to play off him, but his energy on the glass and in the paint can mitigate that shortcoming.

If Simmons truly wants to get back to his previous standing in the league and perhaps reach new heights, he’s going to need to come through in the NBA playoffs. The image of him passing up an easy dunk in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks a few years ago will stay with him for the next of his career unless he creates another memory to supersede it.

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Simmons was ruled out for the rest of the 2023-2024 NBA season with continuing back issues, after only playing 15 games. CBS Sports calls the situations with Simmons and the Nets uncomfortable, as the team can't seem to count on him as a cornerstone moving forward.