Shaq defends Ben Simmons critiques, says criticism part of being NBA player

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Shaquille O’Neal and Ben Simmons’ feud took another turn over the last few days as both players fired remarks back at each other over critiques the Los Angeles Lakers legend made about the Brooklyn Nets guard.

Simmons appeared on "The Old Man and the Three" podcast last week and opened up to J.J. Redick about his mental health issues, giving up a shot in the 2021 NBA playoffs and his exit from the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Simmons acknowledged he reached out to O’Neal amid the chaos that was going on in his life and said he wished the Basketball Hall of Famer and other analysts would have done more.

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Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets warms up before a game against the 76ers on March 10, 2022, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

O’Neal denied ignoring Simmons’ issues.

"First of all, if you play at 9:30 and we come on at 10 and we say something, it’s just what we see," O’Neal said in the latest episode of "The Big Podcast with Shaq." "The mental health thing ain’t come out until everybody start bashing you, then you let people know you have mental health problems… I told the world, ‘He DM’d me, he told me he was going through some problems and I said I was gonna back off.’"

O’Neal said he told Simmons in the message chain that people don’t know what’s going on because he isn’t talking. He said he just speaks on "what he knows" and is trying to bring the young talent in the NBA to the next level. He said he saw in Simmons that the guard "was scared."

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