New LA Clippers signing Ben Simmons has certainly caused a divide between Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins.
Simmons made his Clippers debut in the 116-120 win over the Utah Jazz and his performance certainly caught the attention of NBA fans.
The 2016 No.1 draft pick joined the LA Clippers after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Brooklyn Nets.
Simmons dropped an impressive 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the victory and Kendrick Perkins was certainly impressed with what he had seen.
While Simmons struggled to show anywhere near his best basketball for the Brooklyn Nets, the Clippers fans will be hoping coach Ty Lue can bring the Philadelphia 76ers version out of the Australian.
Simmons averaged just 6-5-6 with the Nets compared to 14-7-6 with the 76ers, and Baron Davis believes he can make an impact on a successful Clippers team.
The Clippers currently sit with an impressive 31-23 record in the Western Conference and their star-studded side which includes the likes of James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell will be a good fit for Simmons.
Perkins was impressed with what he saw from the 28-year-old on his debut, telling ESPN: “They just got Ben Simmons, he played a pretty good damn game for his first game in a Clippers uniform coming in off the bench.”
Questioned whether he was still in the league by some of his co-hosts, Perkins snapped back: “Yes he’s in the league, I believe he had 14-7-8 last night off the bench for the Clippers.”
Stephen A. is never afraid to give his opinion as he proved with his take on Bronny James.
The NBA expert stated that LeBron needed to ‘stop this’ after his son’s poor display in the LA Lakers match against the Philadelphia 76ers.
And now it’s Simmons who is in the firing line of Stephen A. who was quick to bite back at Perkins on Simmons saying: “Thank god I didn’t have food in my mouth when he mentioned Ben Simmons. I mean you’ve got to be kidding me, this brother right here he’s gonna show up tonight but you don’t know what he’s gonna do on another night and guess what it might be nothing to do with basketball.
“He’s the only basketball player in American history that I have seen being assigned to play basketball and was treating it like they’d been asked to be on the front line in Ukraine.
“I know he’s been dealing with some injuries but once his contract expires I think it’ll be a challenge for him to get minimum. Yes, he never could shoot but he could do everything else. He was such a special talent and the drop-off is one of the more precipitous ones I believe we have seen in the history of basketball.”
Simmons will be looking to prove Stephen A. that he can return to his best basketball form when the Clippers face the Milwaukee Bucks after the NBA All-Star weekend.
