Celtics' Jaylen Brown Issues Ben Simmons Bulletin Board Material

Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown revealed a team-wide joke regarding Ben Simmons just a couple of days before their second battle of the season.
Celtics' Jaylen Brown Issues Ben Simmons Bulletin Board Material
Celtics' Jaylen Brown Issues Ben Simmons Bulletin Board Material /

Somewhere in Boston, there is a crowd of fans and apparently players, laughing at the fact that Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons is reluctant to shoot a three-ball. Although Simmons has been more open to the idea of launching threes this season, he's still not doing it at the pace a typical point guard would.

Plenty of NBA fans and players have joked about Simmons' unwillingness to shoot three-pointers in the past. Nobody has done it more than the Boston Celtics and their fan base though. It all started two seasons ago when the Sixers and the Celtics battled in the second round of the 2017-2018 NBA Playoffs.

Simmons and the Sixers were struggling, and the eventual All-Star point guard would not step out of his comfort zone to try something different in order to help out his team. That resulted in the Celtics leaving Simmons wide open from mid-to-long range at times during the series, which created the saying "shoot a three, you coward."

Two years later, Simmons has drained two of his very few true three-point shots (excluding buzzer-beater attempts) but he's still not knocking them down on a consistent basis. Therefore, the Celtics believe they can still crack jokes at Simmons' expense for the time being.

Boston Celtics rookie Grant Williams has had some growing pains early on in his debut season. As he had attempted and missed 25 three-pointers up until Monday's game, his teammates decided to have a little fun with him by giving him a handful of nicknames.

The primary nickname just so happened to be Sixers related. "Yeah, we were calling him Ben Simmons for the longest," Jaylen Brown revealed on Monday night. "But he knocked one down, and Ben knocked one down too. So, shoutout to both of those guys."

While Jaylen Brown issued some respect to Simmons for finally hitting a three in the league, it still doesn't change the fact that the Sixers' star point guard was the butt of the Celtics' ongoing joke within their locker room. While it's truly all in good fun -- the reveal of the antics could definitely issue some bulletin board material for Simmons and the Sixers ahead of Thursday night when Philly takes on Boston for the second time this year.


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA