{"id":88549,"date":"2021-06-21T03:37:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T03:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88549"},"modified":"2021-06-21T14:04:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T14:04:44","slug":"brutal-moment-when-scared-aussie-star-froze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=88549","title":{"rendered":"Brutal moment when 'scared' Aussie star froze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Simmons<\/a> has copped a torrent of criticism for a shocking performance in Philadelphia's Game 7 loss to Atlanta after refusing to take an open basket in the dying stages of the match.<\/p>\n

The 76ers' title hopes<\/a> limped to a dismal end today and Simmons' late pass-up of an open bucket capped-off what can only be described as a developing neurosis at the ring.<\/p>\n

In 36-minutes on the court, Simmons finished with five points, making two of his only four shots attempted – with a free throw added in.<\/p>\n

Not the numbers you'd hope to see from a once-revered franchise player currently sitting on a max contract, raking in $40.6 million dollars this season alone.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

But it all came to a head in the dying stages of the final quarter with the 76ers trailing the Hawks 88-86. The criticism that had simmered for Simmons throughout the majority of the playoffs<\/a> spectacularly ignited when the Aussie refused to take an easy dunk under the rim after shaking off his defender.<\/p>\n

Instead, he dished a pass out to teammate Matisse Thybulle who had a sea of traffic between himself and the rim, missing a tough drive to the basket.<\/p>\n

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The missed opportunity allowed the Hawks enough room to move away thanks to some fearless shooting by youngster Trae Young (only further highlighting Simmons' shooting hesitance).<\/p>\n

And soon, social media was awash with disbelief, criticism and some serious questions for the Aussie NBA star's future in the game.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/rodger\/status\/1406799539651088389<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WorldWideWob\/status\/1406800125754806275<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealSkipBayless\/status\/1406798576395554819<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/SheaSerrano\/status\/1406799769599713285<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevOnStage\/status\/1406798751423889415<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinOConnorNBA\/status\/1406798651918372869<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/CashNasty\/status\/1406798723720511492<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanWardLA\/status\/1406801804583530497<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/damienwoody\/status\/1406798701692178435<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/clubtrillion\/status\/1406798992499908611<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/RooshWilliams\/status\/1406800566051823623<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoshEberley\/status\/1406800049330216962<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/tallmaurice\/status\/1406798894848262146<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidDTSS\/status\/1406802319111557122<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisCillizza\/status\/1406802405346381825<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Marcus_Mosher\/status\/1406802082364104704<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FredKatz\/status\/1406800512738004995<\/a><\/p>\n

Simmons was hooked in the final minute of play, finishing the game on the bench.<\/p>\n

When asked if he thinks Simmons can play point guard on a championship team, coach Doc Rivers responded: "I don't know the answer to that right now.<\/p>\n

"I don't know. He struggled from the free throw line and that became a factor in the series. There's no doubt about that. Still believe in him.<\/p>\n

"But, we have work to do. We're gonna have to get in the gym, put a lot of work in, and go from there."<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

Philly was on edge in the fourth \u2014 the public address announcer even noted "it's a little quiet in here" \u2014 having seen two losses in this series already.<\/p>\n

But Sixers fans soon let the home team have it and booed them off the court, reprimanded by the public address announcer for throwing trash on the court.<\/p>\n

The Sixers finished with 17 turnovers.<\/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<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Simmons has copped a torrent of criticism for a shocking performance in Philadelphia's Game 7 loss to Atlanta after refusing to take an open […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88551,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88549\/revisions\/88551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}