Veteran sports analyst Bill Simmons is not happy with how Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker took his comments about him not playing for Team USA.
Simmons, who founded The Ringer, posted a tweet last week directed towards Booker. The former Grantland Editor-in-Chief said that it would have been better had the Suns guard played for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup instead of playing pick-up games with some trainers. Simmons took the United States' overtime matchup with Turkey in the group stage as an example of a real “intense” workout that could have benefited Booker.
I hope Devin Booker is watching this OT game before his intense workout with some 5’9 trainer who just keeps feeding him uncontested threes. Cuz that’s a better way to prepare for the season.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) September 3, 2019
However, after Jayson Tatum went down with an injury, Booker felt it was the perfect time to respond to Simmons' jab — implying that he would have also risked getting injured had he chose to play for Team USA.
Prayers up🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 https://t.co/5bwba3hC0W
— Book (@DevinBook) September 3, 2019
Now, in an appearance on Zach Lowe's podcast last week, Simmons spent time clarifying his judgmental comments of Booker, claiming nowadays it's difficult to criticize in good faith athletes.
Simmons also noted that Booker hasn't played in any meaningful game since being drafted by the Sun, emphasizing that it would have been great for the Suns franchise player to learn from the likes of Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr
“Here’s why this is completely absurd,” Simmons began. “And I guess this is where we are in 2019 as sports media members and fans. No longer are we allowed to be critical of any NBA player in any way. That’s the new reality of the player empowerment era.
“When I say that I thought Devin Booker should have played Team USA, why am I saying that? Am I saying that to be a d–k? Am I saying that to take a drive-by shot at him? No. I’m saying it because I think he’s really talented. And here’s his career so far: he played at the University of Kentucky for one year and they made the Final Four. That was the most important games he’s ever played in because he goes to Phoenix and he’s on lottery teams for four years. They won 17 games last year. He’s never played in a meaningful professional basketball game in his life. And I find it hard to believe that it wouldn’t make him better to play on Team USA and to have (Gregg) Popovich and Steve Kerr and all these coaches … the highlights of his career have been these meaningless scoring explosions.”
It remains to be seen if Booker will respond to these comments by Simmons, but it won't be a surprise if he does.
Follow Us
Subscribe