Totally agree.
Not at all—as a couple of us have said there’s no way to know what he will be going forward. But that uncertainty cuts both ways; he might be all nba again or he might be unable to play. What I believe HRB and I are saying is every team will take a shot on that upside…not that anyone is sure it will come to fruition. Pretty sure no one has doubted there is mental stuff to consider as well as physical here.
I don’t think that’s going to far at all. The chance that Ben goes Larry Sanders on us is greater than zero.
Speaking of Rob, do we think Ime will keep him coming off the bench in Game 4? Or is it time to get back to the regular season starting 5? Put another way, is it smarter to match up Theis with the Nets' bench players, including Claxton or leave him matched up with Drummond?
I bet we see him start. They seem really, really happy with his progress, and he wasn't on the injury report.
I'd think they keep doing what's worked so far in this series. And if it ends tonight, they can make the changes when they start fresh in the next round.
My guess is the Nets, as a hail-mary attempt, are going to play incredibly small or use Blake. Either way I'd think that the optimal lineup would be Grant/Smart/Brown/Tatum/Horford since that gives you the most shooting/switchability on defense.
Imaging being Curry and Drummond as key contributors for a title contender, but having the Ben Simmons situation hanging over their heads waiting for him to be traded only to find out they’re in the trade because Thybulle won’t get vaccinated.
Here's two other ways of looking at this.
Been wondering this too. The loud clothes are bringing even more attention on him. It's really confusing what his goal is here.
Unfortuntaly for Ben Simmons, The Batman has already declared himself.
NBA Twitter has been lobbing some bombs in Simmons's direction. Some of the video clips that people found for him are truly hilarious. I have a sneaking suspicion that the BS Era in Brooklyn is going to end before it ever starts. I can see the Nets sending him to an NBA backwater to build like Boston (improve the roleplayers around their two stars).
If Kyrie actually said he had stopped keeping score in basketball games 7 years ago, I honestly would not bat an eyelid.
Didn't he once say that he saw the score of individual games as irrelevant, because they all flowed together as part of one long-running, eternal game of basketball?
Kyrie quotes: real or fake would be a tremendous drinking game. Also sounds like something straight out of How I Met Your Mother.
That last paragraph assumes anyone in that locker room expected Simmons to play his exhibition season during the playoffs. I’ve always found that highly unlikely since the regular season ended.
I do find it a bit awkward that not only does he dress to standout, but he sits in a prime bench seat every time. Why not sit in the 2nd row, or on the far side if you want to be supportive, rather than making it about you? I can't imagine going out all, being down 3-0 and this guy sitting there in a clown outfit and not losing it.
Who says he wants to be supportive and not make it about him? The orange pants speak for themselves.
Didn’t he date a Kardashian/Jenner? Feel like that’s all you need to know about that.
By "it," do you mean, "wait until the series is over before again being the center of attention."
Oh boy. I would guess the "mental hurdles" are like 80% of the issue here. Like HRB said, there seems to be a significant chance this guy never plays again.
So there's acknowledgement that there are still mental hurdles. I don't know who was driving the messaging that Ben was going to play in the playoffs, but that was malpractice. If there's any hope of him playing again, he needed an offseason reset and fresh start with his new team. Now, who knows if even that is possible.
Many employers view mental health challenges this way, I'm not sure what the ultimate contract resolution would be in this case. On the other hand, we won't have to wait long to find out as its what happened with the 76ers. They stopped paying and demanded back wages, which the Nets are honoring. Ben doesn't get Nets paychecks, they go directly to the 76ers because of their grievance against him.
That seemed evident with every Nash press conference. The messaging on this was genuinely weird and counterproductive.
