Stephen A. Smith Roasts Ben Simmons After He Teases NBA Comeback to 76ers

After skipping an entire NBA season last year, it seems that Ben Simmons is interested in making a comeback. In an interview with Men's Health, the former LA Clippers forward expressed interest in returning to the NBA. However, analyst Stephen A. Smith believes he should stay away from the court.

"I think Ben Simmons is a basketball abomination," Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. "He is the only player whom I have witnessed in NBA History who should pay NBA Teams to have him play. Not the other way around. This brother was literally on the basketball court, scared to shoot."

"Literally treated attempting a jump shot as if you asked to be on the front lines in Iraq or Iran. ... The biggest waste of talent we have seen in NBA history, if not all of professional sports, in our lifetime. Never has somebody been so damn good and was a waste of space," he added.

During Simmons' interview, he expressed interest in returning to the Philadelphia 76ers. If not Philly, he'd also like to play for the Miami Heat.

"I plan on getting as strong as I can physically, getting my a** on the court, and then the team realizing that my abilities will be needed," Simmons said. "I don't have a plan on where. Maybe I'll go back to Philly. Miami would be nice. And not because it's Miami—I like Erik Spoelstra, I like the Heat, I like their organization, I like the culture."

Simmons' absence from the court was due to chronic back issues, and he is currently an unrestricted free agent. While there may be some truth to Smith's take on the forward, sources suggest that some teams are still willing to pick him up due to his playmaking and defensive capabilities.

Given the way he's performed in the last few seasons, anything beyond that amount wouldn't make sense.

Ben Simmons Speaks Up on His Confidence on the Court

There has been a narrative that the No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft had lost his confidence. Simmons built a reputation for being too scared to take shots, and it's not a recent occurrence.

In 2021, during Philadelphia's seven-game series with the Atlanta Hawks, the 29-year-old shot just 15-for-45 across the series.

He failed to take fourth-quarter shots in five out of those seven games during that series. However, Ben Simmons clarified that it was mostly his nagging injuries that got in the way.

"So many people speak about confidence," Simmons told Men's Health in an interview published on June 29. "If I was not confident, I would not get on the court again, I would not go to the Clippers, I wouldn’t play in Brooklyn. It’s health. It’s just being healthy."

For now, it remains to be seen if Simmons could cut a deal with either the Philadelphia 76ers or Miami Heat. The names of the rumored teams interested in him have also yet to be revealed.