Royce White on Ben Simmons: ‘If it was me, I would be playing in Game 4’

With the Brooklyn Nets’ season officially in the books, countless opinions have been rolling in with regard to Nets guard Ben Simmons.

As NBA fans know, Simmons ended up sitting out the entire 2021-22 regular season. He spent the first portion of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers before being traded to the Nets. Once the trade to the Nets was complete, many expected him to join his new team on the court.

However, that step never came to pass. Not only did Simmons sit out for the entire regular season, he missed the Nets’ four playoffs games as well. Considering the Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in their best-of-seven series, there’s no doubt that they could have used the three-time All-Star.

Matters were made even worse thanks to the fact that Simmons was expected to make his season debut in Game 4. When the game finally came, however, he was nowhere to be found.

He’s understandably receiving a lot of criticism for sitting out of the game. One opinion came from former NBA player Royce White.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Ben Simmons,” White said. “Something clearly is going on with him. He’s young still. He has all the time and all the skill to become a very good NBA All-Star, I believe. It has to be in his heart and mind to do that, and right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s in his heart or mind to do that. I can’t speak to that because I don’t know him personally. I will say, if it was me, I would be playing in Game 4 tonight.

Surely, a lot of former and current NBA players feel the same way. Simmons very clearly bailed on his entire team. Right now, neither his future with the Nets nor his future in the NBA seems all that certain. Nothing would be a real shock at this point when it comes to Simmons.

While everyone is talking about Simmons and the Nets now, the focus will surely soon turn back to the teams that are actually still competing in the playoffs.

Once the offseason begins, however, rumors about this odd situation will surely bubble up once again.