The Brooklyn Nets survived a tumultous offseason, but they’re still not in the clear. Handling their stars’ egos and hoping they can coexist on the court will take time and patience, and they may not be willing to wait that long.
Ben Simmons missed a whole season and his long-awaited debut was quite underwhelming. He fouled out after scoring just four points and taking three shots, looking rusty and slow in most coverages.
However, it’s been just one game, and some growing pains were to be expected. Even so, that’s all it took for Kyrie Irving to make the headlines, calling out Simmons for not playing smart.
Kyrie Irving Calls Out Ben Simmons: ‘We Want To Play Smart’
“As we told him in the locker room, he’s a valuable piece for us and we need him out there. And fouling out is not an option,” Irving said after the loss. “Playing aggressive is something that we want him to do, but we also want to play smart.”
Simmons Says He Was Too Excited
The former Sixers star blamedthe excitement and his desire to be back on the floor for being too aggressive. He also showed confidence in his ability to bounce back once he gets his legs under him:
“I was just too excited, honestly,” Simmons told the media.“But it was just great to be out there. The first game, obviously, you want to win. But we know the reasons we lost, there are multiple reasons we lost. And those are things we can fix. We know that’s not us as a team. I think there’s a lot of jitters out there early on, but it was good to get out of the way.”
Nash Has Simmons’ Back, Says He’s Just Rusty
Coach Steve Nash had a similar take about Simmons’ first official game as a member of the Nets. He knows he’s rusty and it’ll take some time before he’s back to being that elite defender he’s been for the most part of his career:
“I just think he’s rusty. The guy hasn’t played for over a year—still getting used to referees, defense, and offense. This is a process,”the coach said. “You guys have heard me say it, but he’s shown obviously glimpses of the player we know he is and can be but it’s not easy. We’re here to support him, we’re here to push him, coach him up, and try to get him to a place where he can play at the level he’s played in the past. It’s all there for him.”
Kevin Durant was also supportive of Simmons, as teammates should be. Clearly, Kyrie has never gotten that memo, a he’s openly called his teammates out everywhere he’s gone. Ironically, he wasn’t all that great, either, scoring 15 point on 19 shots in the loss.
