ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has managed to tick off a lot of people in his long sports media career. The latest person to get upset? Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons' agent, Bernie Lee.
Lee has taken offense after Smith said during an appearance on “The OGs Show” podcast that the only injury he has ever questioned was Ben Simmons’ and said, “he’s lucky he’s not in prison for theft.”
When Lee was asked to comment by NetsDaily on Smith’s take, he fired back at the ESPN personality.
“Quite frankly,” Lee told the outlet. “I think Stephen A. is an idiot and I only wish he still had he’s [sic] TV show so I could sit in his audience and voice my opinion to him while he attempted to do his job … alas … it got canceled.”
“He don’t want to play, he don’t love the game. He don’t love the game,” Smith said in the episode. “I’m not saying he wasn’t injured, but I’m talking about an absence of love for the game. Remember, he was missing games before he was injured.
“They pointed to mental health. We can’t dismiss the importance of mental health. The reason why I’m critical of it is because that never prevented you from making sure that check was in your account every two weeks. He never missed it…He always made sure that cash was there. But he wanted to play? So, don’t get me started with him.”
Will Ben Simmons show up for the Nets this season?
The Nets brought Ben Simmons in in 2022 in a blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers. On paper, Simmons was a great fit alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Simmons is a pass-first lockdown defender who can finish strong at the rim, which means that he could feast on the attention Durant and Irving draw.
Simmons did not play upon his arrival with the Nets as he dealt with a back injury. When he returned the following season, his back continued to give him trouble, as he looked like a shell of his former self. He passed up open looks from close range, was very passive in hunting his offense, and he was very foul prone.
And then, the following year, it looked as though Ben Simmons was on the cusp of redemption. He looked more athletic during the 2023 preseason, and he was also quicker when it comes to getting to the basket.
However, after playing 32 or more minutes in five of the first six games he suited up in this past season, Simmons ended up re-aggravating his back injury. He missed 38 straight games from November to January, and upon his return in January, he also showed some signs of life. That ended up being fool's gold, as he, once again, fell prey to the injury bug, undergoing back surgery for the second time in three years.
The hope is that Simmons has put his back problems behind him, and he will have every incentive to prove that he can still play in a contract year.
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