Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal criticize Ben Simmons over trade demand

Not long after critiquing Ben Simmons on the radio, both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal doubled down on their comments on The Big Podcast. Recently Simmons demanded a trade from the 76ers, and the situation has only gotten uglier over the last week. When discussing the report, both Chuck and Shaq tore into Ben’s work ethic and immaturity.

“Ben Simmons, you’re not that good. And then in this league, you wanna be good? Or do you wanna be great? You’re not great… Don’t be putting pictures on your Instagram of your Ferrari or what actress you hangin around with. When you play for a town like Philadelphia, Boston, L.A., Miami, hard-working towns, they don’t give a shit about any of that. They want you to work hard and play hard.”

O’Neal continued on to say Simmons looked scared during Game Six against Atlanta while Barkley criticized Simmons’ jump shot videos and how Philly has dealt with it for years. I don’t think anyone in Philadelphia would disagree with these two’s opinions, and it’s great to see these legends get honest with Simmons.

Over the last few weeks, Simmons has told the Sixers he doesn’t care about his trade value while saying he will be sitting out training camp while waiting for a trade. In the meantime, Ben Simmons continues to have videos posted of him shooting threes in the gym with nobody buying that any change will occur on the court. Some teams remain interested in a trade for the All-Star, including the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers.