Ben Simmons<\/a> has been a target of media scrutiny, with Stephen A. Smith leading the charge in questioning his love for basketball. During a July 2024 appearance on The OGs Show, Smith claimed Simmons lacked true passion for the game.<\/p>\nStephen A. Smith Shares His Hot Takes On NBA Free Agency, Kawhi & Team USA | Ep 29<\/p>\n
\u201cHe don\u2019t want to play,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe don\u2019t love the game. He don\u2019t love the game. I\u2019m not saying he wasn\u2019t injured, but I\u2019m talking about an absence of love for the game. Remember, he was missing games before he was injured.\u201d
Simmons isn\u2019t buying it. He brushed off the criticism, saying the media has built a habit of pushing narratives that aren\u2019t rooted in reality.
“That’s them making s**t up,” Simmons said. “Like, imagine if I just said, name whoever, and said whatever. It doesn’t hold any weight, you know? Like, where does it come from? It’s just their thought, it’s their opinion. And everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but I’ve been doing this my whole life since I was four years old. So nothing is going to change that.”
He also made it clear that basketball has always been at the center of his life, regardless of what critics might say.
“Basketball is my life. I don\u2019t want to play with my life\u2014this is who I am. It\u2019s in my family, it\u2019s in my blood. This is what I do, like walking\u2014it\u2019s natural. I love the game and the opportunities it has given me and my family.”
Simmons further added, “Every day, I wake up, and basketball is my thing. Even when I step away from playing, I\u2019ll still be involved in some way\u2014coaching, helping the youth, giving back. That\u2019s just who I am and what I\u2019m meant to do.”
For Simmons, basketball isn\u2019t just a job or a paycheck\u2014it\u2019s everything.<\/p>\n
Ben Simmons\u2019 Road to Redemption: Overcoming Injuries, Media Scrutiny, and a Fresh Start with LA Clippers<\/p>\n
Simmons\u2019 NBA journey has been anything but smooth. After winning Rookie of the Year in 2018 and making three straight All-Star teams, things started to unravel. A holdout and a lingering back injury kept him out for the entire 2021-22 season. His trade to Brooklyn in 2022 didn\u2019t offer much relief\u2014injuries continued to pile up, and in 2024, he underwent another back surgery.
This season, he started with the Nets, but after a contract buyout, he landed with the Clippers. Through all the ups and downs, he\u2019s still making an impact on the court, averaging 6.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in 24.1 minutes per game.
Beyond just his own situation, Simmons thinks the way the media covers players has a bigger impact on the league than people realize. He believes unchecked narratives can shape how fans and teams view players, whether it\u2019s fair or not.
\u201cFor the league, it 100 percent (has a negative domino effect),\u201d Simmons said. \u201cBecause nothing’s really valid now. Everyone can say what they want, and I mean, it is what it is. That\u2019s where the world\u2019s going in terms of covering the sport.\u201d
At this point, he knows he can\u2019t control the conversation around him. What he can control is his game and his future in basketball.
Also Read: Ben Simmons’ struggling career raises concerns as Nets star faces criticism from NBA legend<\/a>
As the season winds down, Simmons isn\u2019t letting the noise distract him. He\u2019s focused on finishing strong, proving his worth, and reminding everyone that his love for basketball has never wavered. The critics will keep talking\u2014but Simmons is done listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image Via Paras Griffin\/Getty Images Ben Simmons has heard all the criticism, and he\u2019s not interested in entertaining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,6856,2643,559,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6,17402,15113,4115,19686,2603],"class_list":{"0":"post-123064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-basketball-career","10":"tag-ben-simmons","11":"tag-clippers","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-clippers","14":"tag-laclippers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesclippers","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-nba-all-star","21":"tag-nba-injuries","22":"tag-rookie-of-the-year","23":"tag-simmons","24":"tag-stephen-a-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114743020384634103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\""Basketball](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/119130457.jpg\" "\\"Image")
Image Via Paras Griffin\/Getty Images Ben Simmons has heard all the criticism, and he\u2019s not interested in entertaining it. The Los Angeles Clippers guard has faced relentless scrutiny over the years, from questions about his commitment to the game to doubts about his resilience through injuries. ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith has been one of the loudest voices challenging Simmons\u2019 passion for basketball, but the 28-year-old is setting the record straight. In a recent interview with ClutchPoints’ Tomer Azarly, Simmons fired back, defending his love for the game while also calling out the media\u2019s impact on NBA narratives. Despite setbacks in his career\u2014including injuries, a team holdout, and back surgeries\u2014Simmons remains determined to prove his worth on the court and beyond.<\/p>\n