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Ben Simmons had a very good first half in the Brooklyn Nets' preseason game against the LA Lakers in Las Vegas on Monday night. He finished with 10 points at the half, but fans were not very impressed with his fastbreak dunk in the second quarter.
Anthony Davis missed a 3-point shot in the corner with Mikal Bridges grabbing the rebound. Bridges made a quick outlet pass to Simmons that was almost stolen by D'Angelo Russell.
The three-time All-Star recovered to pull off an easy fastbreak slam. It was great to see Simmons looking healthy after a rough few seasons dealing with a back injury. He had 10 points, one rebound, three assists and one steal in the first 24 minutes of the game.
Here's the video:
However, NBA fans were not impressed with Ben Simmons despite his showing in the first half. Simmons was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line.
One fan even called out his fastbreak dunk as basic:
"There is no way you just posted the most basic dunk I have ever seen."
Another didn't buy into the hype, as the regular season spans 82 games, and Simmons has barely played in the last two years:
"It's preseason folks, let's see what he can do in the regular 82 eighty-two game season, where he HAS 2 play 82 games, which is a lot of games for a pro."
Another fan joked that Simmons could have injured himself while pulling up on the rim after the slam:
"Bro almost got injured off that dunk."
Here're the rest of the best reactions to Ben Simmons' dunk and performance against the Lakers:
Ben Simmons ready for comeback season?
Ben Simmons has only played 42 games in the last two seasons and has been dealing with a back injury since getting traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
Simmons seems optimistic about the upcoming season and told reporters on the Nets media day that he's feeling healthy both physically and mentally.
"I feel great," Simmons said. "As it is physically, your mental is very important. So it's just doing the things that work best for you. For me, it's a lot of meditation. And then physically, that's all a part of it, too.
"So when you're at your best physically, that helps your mental also. So it's being in a place now and it's just great. And I'm very blessed to be able to get on the court and play."
