Tyreek Hill believes Nets are holding back Ben Simmons, defends NBA star's career
Tyreek Hill weighed in to support Ben Simmons after a post was up on social media soliciting opinions. It showed a fancy sports car on the side of a house with a gravel track and asked users to explain it in NFL terms of a talent being wasted by a franchise. However, Tyreek Hill took the opportunity, as an NFL player, to offer an equivalent in the NBA world instead.
The Miami Dolphins star identified Ben Simmons as someone whose talent was not being put to good use by the Brooklyn Nets. The Australian was drafted by the 76ers and made it to three NBA All-Star teams while on their roster. But he was traded after a playoff slump in 2022. Since then, he has not reached those levels in Brooklyn as he did in Philadelphia and has struggled with multiple injuries.
But Tyreek Hill called the Nets guard his favorite player, which is high praise indeed and wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter,
"My favorite player Ben Simmons on the nets [sic], holding my boy back"
What would be Tyreek Hill's Ben Simmons in the NFL?
While Tyreek Hill offered Ben Simmons as his answer to the question, he could have looked to the NFL as well for some answers. In the past, the Detroit Lions would have been one of the places that could have qualified, having played a role in the retirement decisions of both Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. In a more recent era, one could think of Trevor Lawrence under Urban Meyer.
However, if one is looking at just the present, one could nominate someone like Garrett Wilson. He keeps putting up Pro Bowl-caliber numbers with a rotating cast of quarterbacks every season behind him. Even when the Jets got Aaron Rodgers, the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback was injured. He does not have support on the outside perimeter either.
One could also look at Rodgers' former teammate, Davante Adams, now stuck with the Las Vegas Raiders with no clarity on who will be the starting quarterback and if they have a franchise quarterback on their current roster. Wide receiver, being a dependent position, is likely to feature at the top of many lists.
Luckily for Tyreek Hill, he has stability behind him with Tua Tagovailoa as his quarterback with the Dolphins. It is the kind of rhythm that has eluded Ben Simmons in Brooklyn and it is not hard to see why the NFL star is sympathizing with his NBA counterpart.