If This Story About A Ben Simmons Bet With Bradley Beal Is Somehow True, It Might Just Be The Worst $20,000 Ever Spent
Unfortunately for Ben Simmons, his career has become enough of a joke on its own by this point that he doesn't need any fake stories coming out to make it look even worse. Within months of being in Brooklyn he already drove away Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. If he got his feelings hurt about Doc Rivers saying he doesn't know if you can win a championship with Ben as your point guard, then I can't even begin to think of how he's reacting to Jacque Vaughn straight up saying he has no idea how to get Ben Simmons to work with any lineup combination. The Nets couldn't even trade him away for free at the deadline this year.
But if this story is true, or at least some percentage of truth to it, we may have pinpointed the exact moment it all turned to hell for Ben.
Now again, I have no idea whether or not to believe this. The full article doesn't necessarily read like satire or anything. But first of all, it's a story being told second-hand from an anonymous coach so right off the bat it's suspect. Secondly, I've never heard of Steve Bulpett or Heavy.com before. The bullshit alarms are going off like crazy here. But this is America after all, isn't right? And in America we believe in innocent until proven guilty. So until this story is proven to be complete and total bullshit, I'm going to believe there's at least some semblance of truth to it.
Sixers vs Wizards. First round of the 2021 playoffs. Hack-A-Ben is in full force. And just as Ben Simmons steps up to the line to exorcise his free throwing demons and shove it right back up Scott Brooks' hoop, he decided to place a friendly little wager with Bradley Beal. Who then saw his bet and raised him another 15 grand. The end result?
A bricked free throw, Ben Simmons down $20,000, and the rest--as they say--is history. Ben's confidence was as cooked as Joel Embiid likes his steaks. Game 7 against Atlanta was just the tip of the iceberg.
Even if this story and quote is complete bullshit, I like the idea of it being true so much better. And the thing about reality is that it's just a point of view. Your reality can be whatever you choose for it to be. And I choose this being an all-time great villain origin story.