"You're on your own KAT" : Jeff Teague tells hilarious story of Ben Simmons choking Karl-Anthony Towns

Ben Simmons busted out his inner MMA fighter self against Karl-Anthony Towns in 2019 during a game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Australian had Towns choked after the Timberwolves big man and Philly counterpart Joel Embiid were involved in a brawl. Jeff Teague, who was with Minnesota at that time, managed to push “The Process” to the floor to break the fight. Simmons, though, stuck on Towns like he was going for a mixed martial arts stoppage.

The Simmons-Towns dustup has been brought back following the fracas between the Golden State Warriors and the Timberwolves. This time, Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert were the main characters. Green tried to choke out Gobert who wanted to break up the altercation between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels.

Jeff Teague, who retired following the 2020-21 season, was on the Club 520 Podcast. He tossed in his thoughts on the Green-Gobert incident and recalled the Simmons-Towns history:

“Was that worse than Ben Simmons choking KAT? N****, KAT tapped out. I ain’t gonna never forget that, I was crying…I don’t know what I was doing; I damn near hurt my pec.

"My pec still ain’t been since that day, I think I tore my pec. But Ben Simmons, he had something else going on, I couldn’t get him off. I was like, ‘Hey, you on your own, KAT, you gotta figure that s*** out.’ “I ain’t gonna lie; I was so proud of KAT in that moment."

Amazingly enough, Ben Simmons was not ejected or fined for the choke on Karl-Anthony Towns. The officials deemed him a “peacemaker” during the dustup. “KAT” and Joel Embiid were suspended for two games.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t agree with the NBA’s investigation of Ben Simmons’ role in the Joel Embiid vs Karl-Anthony Towns fight

Referee Mark Ayotte, the chief of the officiating crew of the said game, told a pool reporter the reason why Ben Simmons was not ejected. Ayotte said that Simmons was “deemed a peacemaker” in the brawl. The Australian got away scot-free while Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns received two-game suspensions.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, following the NBA’s investigation, released a statement that the league got it wrong. Minnesota’s front office called Simmons’ action a “dangerous chokehold.” They felt that the 6-foot-9 point guard went overboard with his action.

The Philadelphia 76ers, as would be expected, agreed with the NBA’s ruling. They pointed out that Karl-Anthony Towns was the aggressor as he was the first to throw a punch, which fortunately didn’t land. Unsurprisingly, they credited Simmons for helping contain the altercation.