Stephen A. Smith says Ben Simmons should be arrested as First Take rant goes viral

Drew Smith
February 18, 2026
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Stephen A. Smith is back in his bag and Ben Simmons is once again the target. During Tuesday’s episode of First Take, what started as a routine conversation about the Lakers’ perimeter shooting quickly turned into a full-blown Simmons drive-by.

Smith casually said, “They ain’t quite Ben Simmons,” and when his co-hosts questioned why he brought up a player who isn’t even in the league anymore, he doubled down in classic Stephen A. fashion.

“As long as ‘First Take’ is in existence, Ben Simmons will catch strays,” Smith said. “I ain’t apologizing for it to a damn soul. There is no bigger thief in the history of the NBA than that man. If Ben Simmons runs near a basketball arena, he should be arrested.”

That line immediately went viral.

Stephen A. Smith on Ben Simmons:

"As long as First Take is in existence, Ben Simmons will catch strays. I ain’t apologizing for it to a damn soul. There is no bigger thief in the history of the NBA…if Ben Simmons runs near a basketball arena, he should be arrested." – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/Xdc6WksTqX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2026

Simmons, of course, signed a five-year, $177.2 million max extension with the Sixers back in 2019. Over the life of that deal, he appeared in just 166 games and averaged 8.8 points per contest.

Injuries, holdouts, back surgeries, confidence issues, the infamous passed-up dunk against Atlanta, it all snowballed into one of the strangest superstar flameouts the league has ever seen. Now at 29, Simmons is unsigned and effectively out of the NBA.

Here’s the nuance that gets lost in the yelling. Before the extension, Ben Simmons was a three-time All-Star, an All-NBA selection, and one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball. He was legitimately on a trajectory that screamed franchise cornerstone. The contract wasn’t insane at the time.

The collapse afterward is what made it look catastrophic.

Smith’s frustration reflects what a lot of Sixers fans still feel, but calling someone a “thief” or saying they should be “arrested” for an NBA contract is peak daytime TV theatrics. Players don’t write the checks. Teams do. If anything, the league is filled with max deals that age poorly. Simmons just became the most meme-able version of that reality.

And yet, Stephen A. can’t quit him. For whatever reason, Simmons remains his favorite punching bag years after the breakup in Philadelphia. As long as the debate desk exists, apparently so will the strays.