NBA
Ben Simmons’ latest IG story ‘Chop wood carry water’ has critics around the league buzzing
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated21 Jun 2023
After playing only 42 games for the Nets last season, Ben Simmons is eager to get back to all-star his all-star form. With the 76ers, Simmons played his best basketball. Since being traded to Brooklyn, he’s been a shell of himself. Injuries and off-the-court issues have all been weighing on the 26-year-old. Just yesterday, he posted an IG story with the caption “Chop wood carry water” and critics were quick to attack.
Since sitting out the entire 2021-22 season, Simmons has been one of the most scrutinized players in the NBA. His last game played was on 2/15/23. He missed their final 23 regular season games and all four of their playoff games as well.
Despite the criticism around the NBA, Simmons is still working to be the best he can possibly be. He was the 2017-18 ROY and still has the potential to be that same type of player again. Simmons is coming off a sub-par 2022-23 season with Brooklyn and knows he can bring more to the team.
Ben Simmons is on a mission 😤 pic.twitter.com/IfkMZsOynY
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 21, 2023
Ben Simmon is putting in the work to get back to his all-star form
This is not the first time this offseason that we’ve seen Simmons post a picture of himself working out on social media. It’s possible that he feels like he has something to prove this upcoming season. He’s had plenty of time to recover from the lingering injuries he had in 2022-23.
After posting on his IG story again yesterday, critics were not receptive to Simmons’ message. They claimed that he does this every offseason and that he’ll be out again once the regular season starts. After what’s happened in his career, it’s obvious that others on social media love to troll Simmons.
While Simmons looks like he’s in great shape right now, you can’t count on him to be healthy during the regular season. He hasn’t been the same player for nearly two seasons now and who knows if he’ll ever be able to get over that mental hurdle. The three-time all-star has no shooting touch and has been hesitant in the past to even take contested layups.
There were points in last season where Simmons played downhill and looked like a version of his former self. However, those instances were few and far between. Nets fans will hope they get a better version of Simmons for the 2023-24 season.
