Shaquille O’Neal doubled down on his criticism of 76ers star Ben Simmons, Friday, telling Stephen A. Smith that he's tired of seeing Simmons posting pictures of his "little actress girlfriend." Simmons has reportedly been dating Maya Jama for the last several months.
“I like Ben,” O’Neal said on ESPN’s Stephen A’s World. “I may be a little hard on him, but I can do that.”
O'Neal continued: “He went to LSU, my alma mater. And guess what? If he was my teammate, I’d tell him the same thing to his face. You gotta work on your game, man. Don’t be sending out tweets with you and your little actress girlfriend. I don’t want to see that. I want to see you win a championship for Philadelphia.”
Following a disappointing outing in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, Simmons is reportedly in the midst of a dispute with the 76ers that has landed him on the trade block. Despite both parties wanting to move on from one another, the 76ers are reportedly having a difficult time finding any suitors for the 25-year-old Australian.
Earlier this week, O'Neal invited Charles Barkley on his podcast and the two ripped into Simmons for asking for a trade.
[Via]