Down 14 points at home to a team that on paper is supposed to be less talented than your team can be a bit frustrating, just ask Ben Simmons. The Sixers forward was sent to the line after Maurice Harkless fouled him. When Simmons missed his first attempt, Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic decided to talk the tiniest bit of trash to his opponent and yell “Hell no!” after the ball rimmed out.
But Simmons didn’t take to kindly to the comment, offering a rebuttal that was objectively a lot more harsh than what was sent his way. He replied, “You talk a lot of shit for being ass.” Before things could escalate any further—which, it’s not like they had much space to do anything else given that Simmons had another free throw to shoot—the referee shut things down with a swift “quiet.”
Now, does Simmons kind of have a point? Sure. Does Simmons look like the weaker guy in this scenario because he let someone who’s supposedly “ass” get to him? Definitely. He’d end up with 29 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Nurkic would put up a respectable 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in his team’s 130-115 win. But, the Portland big man would end up a +24 on the afternoon, while Simmons was a -20. I guess it takes playing like ass to know what that looks like.