Ben Simmons responds to Jared Dudley criticism

Jared Dudley has not been shy about providing his analysis on Ben Simmons’ game. Before the Sixers-Nets playoff series began, Jared Dudley said the following of Ben Simmons according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark:

We will leave him wide open until he proves in this league that he can make it. Right now, he’s not even attempting it. So we know he’s not going to be able to do that for the most part.

While Dudley’s not necessarily wrong, publicly criticizing an opponent’s game this way is sure to generate beef. To add fuel to the fire, Ben is a prideful guy. For the most part though, Simmons has mostly ignored Dudley’s comments.

Then just yesterday, Wednesday 4/17, Dudley again gave his thoughts to the media about Simmons as a player. From Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

Jared Dudley dropping gems at media availability: “Ben Simmons is a great player in transition. And once you get him into halfcourt, he’s average.” -@SBondyNYDN

At today’s media availability following practice, Simmons was asked about Dudley’s comments, and with a smirk Simmons pushed Dudley aside, flippantly saying, “It’s coming from Jared Dudley, c’mon.” And to the next question the media went.

Translation: Jared Dudley is a troll who has been average at best his entire career.

I actually respect Dudley’s efforts to get into the head of Ben Simmons, but if Ben’s play in Game 2 is replicated through the remainder of this series, Dudley may actually be hurting his team more than helping by motivating Ben.