Philadelphia 76ers point-forward Ben Simmons continues to receive criticism throughout the offseason. Whether it stems from not joining his countrymen in Australia for this year's FIBA World Cup or a recent encounter with security guards at a Melbourne casino, the Sixers star has been unable to avoid negative press this summer.
However, Australia's national team head coach Andrej Lemanis does not like all the Simmons slander one bit.
“That sort of stuff bothers me,” Lemanis recently said of the criticism directed at Simmons, via Justin Chadwick of ESPN. “Ben's at the high end of that [criticism] because of the superstar status that he carries. But I saw when Bogut was coming through and people used to get on him. These guys are passionate about playing for their country, and they want to play. There are a lot of other forces pulling at them. They are men who are managing careers and have decisions to make, and we support them in all of that.
“They know what's going on and what's best for them in managing their careers, and we 100 per cent support them, and 100 per cent support him [Simmons] in doing what is right for him at any particular point in time.”
An Australian radio broadcaster recently lashed out at Simmons for withdrawing from his commitment to the Boomers. In fact, the said broadcaster even went as far as to saying that the Sixers All-Star should just return to the United States and just stay there.
Despite all the criticisms he's receiving though, Simmons has remained silent and chose not to respond to all the negativity. He also remains committed to Australia, citing in his previous announcement that he would still want to lead the Boomers in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
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