Aussie basketball great Shane Heal slams Ben Simmons for never showing desire to play for Boomers
- Heal says he never expected Simmons to play for Australia
- Simmons has not represented the country in more than a decade
- Heal isn’t sure Simmons likes the sport itself
Australian basketball legend Shane Heal has criticised Ben Simmons for his lack of ambition to represent Australia, even questioning whether the NBA star even likes basketball.
Simmons’ desire to play for the Boomers has long been a topic of debate, as the former No. 1 pick has turned down numerous opportunities to play for his country at international level.
He hasn’t worn a Boomers jersey in over a decade, and Heal isn’t sure he ever wants to do so again.
“It’s not disappointing to me because I never expected him to do it. I don’t think Ben Simmons has ever shown any desire to play for Australia,” Heal said. The wide world of sports.
“The NBA guys sacrifice, everybody sacrifices to go to the Olympics and Ben Simmons hasn’t shown that he has the passion or the desire to sacrifice to play for his country. So I honestly never thought he would do that.”
Heal even questioned the NBA star’s passion for the sport itself.
“I’m not sure he likes the game,” Heal said.
‘He hasn’t shown that he loves playing, he hasn’t shown that he loves training, he doesn’t like to be in the gym in the off-season to improve his game and work on the things that every pro has to do to make sure that your game is good and you get better year after year.
Shane Heal (pictured) says Ben Simmons never showed any desire to play for his country
The No. 1 draft pick has appeared in just 57 games during his three seasons with the Nets
‘Ben’s career, every year, he’s gone down a little bit and it’s for those reasons, I think. I’m not sure if that’s going to change in the future and he finds a love for the game and wants to do these things and wants to play all year round, but right now we haven’t seen that.’
Earlier this year, Shaquille O’Neal told Simmons to “act like a man” after he was sidelined for the rest of the season due to injuries.
On an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the Hall-of-Famer didn’t hold back when co-host Adam Lefkoe asked him and Jamal Crawford which NBA player they would pay to watch.
“Ben Simmons, because I want to learn how to make $80 million and play 55 games,” O’Neal quickly responded. “Teach me.”
“Teach me how you can play 55 fucking games in three seasons and get $30 million, $40 million, $40 million, just by saying you have a sore back.”
“Get some fucking Icy Hot, be a man,” O’Neal added.
Simmons played 15 games for Brooklyn last season, his last game being on February 26, when he beat the Memphis Grizzlies 111-86.
Heal said he’s not sure the talented NBA star even likes the sport itself
The former LSU Tiger’s back issues first came to light while he was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. In addition to the point guard’s reported mental health issues, the physical strain caused Simmons to miss the 2021-22 season.
The season before, Simmons played 42 games with ongoing back and knee problems. Brooklyn finished sixth in the Eastern Conference before being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the 76ers.
Simmons, a former No. 1 overall pick, was an All-Star from 2019-21 before falling out of the running with Philadelphia and enduring a frustrating tenure in Brooklyn.
Last season, Simmons averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting 58.1 percent.