Ben Simmons Continues To Hate His Job, Reportedly Left Nets' Group Chat When Asked To Play In Playoffs

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Ben Simmons, who refused to play basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, also refused to play for the Brooklyn Nets after they traded for him in February. Simmons not playing surprised no one, but this latest report about him leaving a team group chat puts things into a completely new perspective.

With the Nets down 3-0 to the Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it was widely reported that Simmons would make his Nets debut in Game 4.

It was a win-win situation for him, either he looks like a real contributor and helps Brooklyn win the game or he flops in a game that doesn't really matter with the series already out of reach.

Instead, Simmons didn't suit up and Brooklyn got swept by Boston.

As for how Simmons let his teammates know that he wasn't going to be playing in the game, well, it was some peak 2022 professional athlete activity.








“Ben Simmons, they’re having a team chat for game four thinking he’s gonna play against the Boston Celtics, and from what I’m told, Ben just left the chat," Ric Bucher of Fox Sports shared on 'The Herd.'

"They asked him, ‘are you gonna play?’ Ben left the chat. Didn’t even answer the question, just left the chat.

“KD is like, ‘This is who I’m playing with?’”

Ben Simmons stands for the singing of the national anthem before Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)



And people wonder why Durant has requested a trade out of Brooklyn.

Things were already unwell within the Nets organization with the drama surrounding Kyrie Irving. They then went out and acquired Simmons when sending an unhappy James Harden to Philadelphia. Then, on the brink of elimination, the Nets tap Simmons' shoulder to come fight and he just straight up leaves the conversation.

And yes, Simmons underwent back surgery a few months ago for a herniated disc, but that doesn't mean this entire situation isn't a bad look.

Two things here: One, Simmons hates his job, and two, please send your thoughts and prayers to Durant as the generational talent has to deal with all this.







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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.