Back on the field after 15 months of absence, Ben Simmons finds it difficult to stay precisely on the ground. For the second time in three games, the Nets point guard joined the bench with six fouls. Last night, he was trapped by that pervert Ja Morant (see below) on his 6th foul, and he is angry.
“I just watched the action again. It was not a fault” he believes. “The referee said it was a foul, but he made a mistake. It’s like that, and it’s really frustrating… It’s not a foul, it’s bullshit… It’s frustrating because it’s the end of the game, the fourth quarter, it’s a physical and tight game. It’s the NBA. It’s not the university. It’s not high school. Some players will take hits, others will bleed. It’s basketball! »
“I didn’t call him anything. I just said it was a shitty decision, which it was”
Another criticism made by Simmons, the technical foul picked up in the first quarter. “There was no explanation for this fault. Ditto for the technical fault. He told me that since Ja had a technique, he had to give me one because I had said something. There was nothing nasty. It was not against the referee. I thought it was just part of basketball. People have emotions. I didn’t yell at him. I didn’t call him anything. I just said it was a shitty decision, which it was, and I had to get off the pitch. I just don’t want to be fined. »
As for Morant, he explained that he took revenge on Ben Simmons for this action which leads to the 6th foul. He let the ball roll to the Nets half court. A few years ago, Simmons stole the ball from him under similar conditions.
“If you want to dig into this action, you have to go back, I think, to my rookie year. We were playing in Philadelphia and the same thing happened.” Morant said. “I went to my coach to ask for a system, and Simmons ran to the ball, took the ball, and he went dunk! I understood then… Once I saw him, rolled the ball and was in midfield, I looked at my coach and saw him try to say “Oh yes”. I knew he was going to put pressure and I had to force the referee to whistle. »
