Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons recently snapped at a reporter who brought up the legitimacy of his Rookie of the Year award from last season.
Despite of how annoying the query might have been, there are some who were still surprised by Simmons' rather testy response. This prompted the usually calm and collected Sixers point forward to explain his decision to resort to expletives to stress his point.
According to Simmons, he was upset by the fact that the reporter had nothing better to ask him than a question pertaining to an issue that, in his mind, is already a thing of the past:
Ben Simmons: "I mean, they had a long time to prepare to have good things to say to me. They’re still stuck in, like, Rookie of the Year stuff. Same old jokes. It was kind of disappointing. You have that long to prepare and that’s all you have to say? C’mon."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 28, 2018
Nonetheless, Simmons did go on to say that he thrives with the criticism thrown at him. In fact, he even enjoys all the jeering and smack talk from supporters of opposing teams:
More Simmons: "I love being able to come into an arena and hear boos and chants, whatever it is, see signs and come in here and win by 20. I mean, there’s nothing better than that."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 28, 2018
This was pretty much how things turned out Thursday night when the Sixers mounted a 114-97 victory against the Utah Jazz on their home floor. Despite all the noise from Jazz supporters — some of whom still believe that Donovan Mitchell is the rightful winner of the 2017-18 ROY award — Simmons was still able to put up another remarkable performance to help his team secure the victory.
Simmons notched his fifth triple-double of the season against the Jazz with a 13-point, 14-rebound, and 12-assist masterpiece. The 22-year-old went 6-of-13 from the field, and he also added three steals and one block to round out another impressive outing.
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