76ers' Ben Simmons Acknowledges Snub From ESPN's DPOY Rankings

Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Ben Simmons has recently acknowledged being snubbed from ESPN's year-end awards panel.

Philadelphia 76ers two-time All-Star point guard Ben Simmons takes tons of pride in his defensive skillset. While the talk is always about Simmons' lack of a three-point shot, the young star is focused on perfecting all other aspects of his game. 

Coming into the NBA, Simmons' defensive skillset was questioned. By year two, though, the 76ers guard would eventually be recognized as one of the better defensive guards in the league. In year three, Simmons was working on achieving elite status in that category -- and winning Defensive Player of the Year would've helped him accomplish that feat.

Unfortunately, there's a panel full of NBA experts who believe Simmons might not be worthy of such an award this season. Recently, ESPN NBA Insiders voted and debated on which players should win specific NBA Awards. When it came to Defensive Player of the Year, many Sixers fans expected to see their guard on the list. In this scenario, Simmons was left out of the top five.

Bucks' big man Giannis Antetokounmpo received 56-percent of the first-place votes for who should win. Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Patrick Beverley, and Bam Abedayo were the other top considerations. Meanwhile, the league leader in steals was nothing more than an honorable mention as Simmons "received votes." As you can expect, plenty of 76ers fans were shocked to see Simmons left out of the top five. And Simmons himself recently acknowledged a disappointed fan's tweet. 

Simmons had a quiet reaction as he only liked the above tweet on his personal Twitter account. But the third-year guard clearly feels snubbed in this scenario. Perhaps, Simmons missing a chunk of games before the NBA's suspension led panelists to believe he couldn't still win the award. However, at this very moment, Simmons still leads the NBA in steals-per-game. That has to count for something, right?

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_