“I’ve lost complete faith”: Stephen A. Smith continues berating Ben Simmons over cashing cheques while staying unavailable

Stephen A. Smith has taken a swipe at Ben Simmons again. The ESPN analyst was on The Breakfast Club show and spoke in detail about Ben Simmons, Colin Kaepernick, and his family time. The First Take co-host has constantly reprobated Simmons’ work ethic and loyalty to the team.

During the interview, the host asked Smith if he would trust Simmons or Kawhi Leonard to play more minutes this season. Smith backed Leonard to play more games despite the latter’s recurring injury and load management. Smith said when it comes to Simmons, the Brooklyn Nets player's lack of putting in that extra effort to help his team on the court disappointed him very much.

[00:13:15]

"I've lost complete faith in Ben Simmons. Hey, the only thing I'm mad about is I don't get a chance to tell him to his face. And the reason why, is that we had the spot last year, man. I had a lot of respect for him. I'm not going to disrespect him as a man or human being; but it's like, my God bro, I get the mental aspects

"But you take the money. You know what I'm saying, somehow, someway, no matter what troubles you going through, the cheque is in the account, and you cash it in.”

Smith also touched on the fact that Simmons could have helped both, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets (with Kyrie and Durant) win a championship. However, with his injury issues and all the drama involved, both teams fell short of their expectations.

Stephen A. Smith asked Ben Simmons to "stop robbing" teams

This is not the first time Stephen A. Smith has let it out on Simmons for his work ethic and low performance. In August 2023, commenting on his conditioning and confidence entering the 2023-24 season, Simmons told Marc J. Spears that he was confident about dominating players on the court.

However, Smith refused to take any of Ben Simmons’ words seriously and asked the Nets star to show up. Smith did not hold back on the 2018 Rookie of The Year, saying Simmons has been robbing the team by taking money from them for nothing.

Even last season, Smith trolled the 3 x NBA All-Star and said that he was “stealing money” from the teams. Last season, Simmons averaged 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists for the Brooklyn Nets. While he is all set to make over $37 million this season and $40 million in the 2024-25 season, he has barely delivered on the promise.