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Ben Simmons hasn't been playing to his usual standards ever since making his debut for the Brooklyn Nets this season, and Charles Barkley believes he knows why.
In the latest episode of Inside the NBA, Barkley noted that Simmons is mentally blocked right now. To back up his claim, he cited a previous instance when Kyrie Irving yelled at Simmons to shoot the ball, emphasizing that he has never seen something like that before.
Barkley then proceeded to advise Simmons to see a sports psychologist in order to overcome the mental hurdles limiting his performance on the court.
“I think personally, I think he [Ben Simmons] needs a sports psychologist. I'm not talking about mental, I'm talking like, he's frozen on the court. He's not even looking at the basket. I've never been on a team where guys have to scream at a guy to shoot the basketball ever. I've seen Kyrie yell at him, I've seen the coach yell at him. He's mentally blocked right now,” Barkley shared.
Ben Simmons is averaging 5.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game this season. While the Nets didn't expect him to be as productive as he was before coming off a long time on the sidelines, Brooklyn certainly didn't expect him to play so bad.
With that said, Charles Barkley might be right with his assessment about the root cause of his struggles.
"I think personally [Ben Simmons] needs a sports psychologist… Mentally, he's blocked right now."
— Charles Barkley#NBATwitter #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/hsAF9psdGL
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) November 16, 2022
For what it's worth, Simmons did open up recently of how he is tired of all the drama surrounding him. He just wants to focus on basketball, but he has never been given the chance to do so. perhaps it's also a contributing factor to his poor play.
“I love the game. Do I like all the bulls**t around it? No,” Simmons said. “But I love the game and it comes with it. … It is what it is. I love playing basketball and I love to work. Not every day’s gonna be perfect. Everyone has down days, but that’s life.”
Whatever the problem is, the Nets will certainly benefit if they can help Simmons as soon as they can.