Patrick Beverley is never one to run out of opinions on anything and everything related to hoops. Apparently, Beverley has figured out why one of the NBA’s most notorious non-shooters could never progress in that particular category.
On an episode of his “Pat Bev Podcast” the former Los Angeles Lakers guard offered his take on Ben Simmons, who has been criticized for his lack of consistency in his shooting form. According to Beverley, Simmons’ struggles were magnified by the city that was once his NBA home.
“Do you blame Philly? That’s the question,” Beverley said. “If you ain’t doing what you gotta do for Philly, they gonna let you know in a heartbeat.”
Beverley’s comment about the Philadelphia 76ers fanbase is spot on, particularly because he spent half of the 2023-24 season with the team. For years, Philadelphia natives have built a reputation for being some of the most passionate and intelligent sports fans in the country. Though they initially gave Simmons a warm welcome, they soured on the 6-foot-10 guard when he failed to come through in some crucial playoff moments.
Simmons’ most infamous on-court moment came in the 2021 playoffs when he passed up the opportunity to get a dunk on a smaller defender. After the 76ers were eliminated from the postseason, Simmons went through a contentious offseason that eventually led to him being shipped away to Brooklyn.
Beverley pointed to this tough sports environment as a deterrent to Simmons’ development. He went on to name-drop another Eastern Conference team to illustrate his point about what could have been.
“If he would have gone to Charlotte to start [his career], without all of the harsh backlash that he got from fans, media, and all that, he probably would have had a three!” Beverley speculated.
But as it turned out, Simmons never attempted more than three outside shots in any of his seasons with the 76ers. Aside from this, his best free-throw shooting percentage in Philadelphia was a subpar 62.1% clip in the 2019–2020 season.
Simmons has gone on to play for the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers, but to date, no NBA team has signed him for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign. Given that he’s still a free agent at this point, it’s hard not to envision the scenario in which Simmons would have thrived in a relatively low-pressure environment.
