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Shaq Says Ben Simmons Slid Into His DM’s After Shaq’s ‘Crybaby’ Rant

According to a report from Shams Charania, there are seven teams around the NBA who are involved with talks in a trade for Ben Simmons

Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons takes part in a practice at the NBA basketball team's facility, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in Camden, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Ben Simmons isn’t  playing these days, but rather he’s sliding.

Last week Shaquille O’Neal roasted Sixers star and current holdout Ben Simmons on TNT for his behavior this season.

O’Neal called Simmons a “crybaby” while refusing to actually use Simmons’ name, calling him “the other guy” in reference to his standing alongside Joel Embiid, who O’Neal praised for responding well to critiques of his game.

Apparently that struck a chord with Ben Simmons

Because O’Neal said in a new episode of his podcast, ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, that Simmons actually went out of his way to direct message O’Neal on Twitter in response to the rant.

Here’s how the exchange went, according to O’Neal:

“SHAQ: He kinda got in my DM and said some things, and I said some things back.

“CO-HOST: What’d he say? Tell us, c’mon.

“SHAQ: I don’t – I can’t do that.

“CO-HOST: He said some things?

“SHAQ: No, I can’t do that.

“CO-HOST: So wait, Ben Simmons DM’d you after he heard what you said last week?

“SHAQ: Yes. Yeah. All I said is, ‘You’re leaving your man out there, you need to play.’ That’s all I said. He said some things, but I’m not going to elaborate on what he said because that’s not cool. […] He was mad.”

Shaq is far too “respectful” to air out exactly what the two said to each other, but I can imagine it wasn’t pretty.

If Simmons wants this to stop,  all he has to do is get back to playing.

Clearly his  love for the game doesn’t out trump his pettiness.


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