Speaking on Shaq's "Big Podcast," with fellow great Charles Barkley, O'Neale took aim at the Australian for his lack of development and his social media activity.<\/p>\n
Not long after his abysmal showing in the playoffs, it was reported Simmons bought a Los Angeles-area mansion for $US24 million and was also spotted in London with rumoured girlfriend and British media personality, Maya Jama. <\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAonTNT\/status\/1435995315144904705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n "Ben Simmons, you're not that good," he said. "In this league, do you want to be good? Or do you want to be great? You're not great. But if you want to get to that next level, you have to be great, and to be great, you have to work on your game.<\/p>\n "Don't be putting pictures up on your Instagram of your Ferrari or what actress you're hanging around with. When you play for a town like Philadelphia, Boston, LA, Miami, hard-working towns, they don't give a s–t about none of that. They want you to come work hard and play hard."<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CTdH0x_vWKr\/?utm_source=ig_embed&<\/a><\/p>\n Barkley said he is "disappointed" in Simmons for wanting out rather than looking to improve his game after taking an $AUD270 million ($US200m) contract from the Sixers. Simmons was badly found out in the playoffs and it's his duty to want to become a better player, Barkley declared.<\/p>\n "I'm disappointed in Ben Simmons," Barkley said. "When you give somebody $US200 million to dribble a stupid basketball, and the only thing you ask him is be better as a player, and their first response is, 'I don't wanna play here anymore', that disappoints me as a player, that disappoints me as a fan.<\/p>\n "They're not saying, 'Come over and cut my grass'. They're saying, 'Ben, we need you to learn how to shoot the basketball'."<\/p>\n Simmons has been the subject of growing trade rumours since the Sixers flunked out of the playoffs. In the latest twist, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported this week that Simmons told the franchise it's up to them to sort out a trade and doesn't see it as his responsibility to lift his value.<\/p>\n "One of the messages that Ben has sent back towards Philly is that it's not his job to fix his trade value," Windhorst said.<\/p>\n "It's not his job to correct his trade value or raise his trade value. That is not something that is on the menu for him and so, with that out there, I don't think he's interested in coming in and trying to change the situation."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n