Typically I would find it very dumb of a veteran role player and leader of a young team whose biggest advantage is that they have nothing to lose to provide motivational material to one of most impactful members of a much more talented opposition ahead of a pivotal Game 3. The key word being typically, for as much as I think Jared Dudley should have just shut up and let the crowds in both Philadelphia and Brooklyn loudly remind Ben Simmons of his offensive inadequacies, I hardly think of the latter as the type of player who is more successful playing with spite. After all, if he could be instigated into playing with more aggression in an effort to prove people wrong then it probably would have manifested itself in a couple more wide-open jump shots during the first hundred times he casually crossed the 3-point line like it didn't exist and turned his own fanbase's hopeful cheers turned into exasperated sighs. Point being, until proven otherwise, Ben Simmons just is what he is on the offensive end. That happens to be a athletic marvel who is selflessly innovative, ultra-skilled, and stupid fast regardless of having a frame that makes him an immediate mismatch. What he is not, on the other hand, is someone who is going to mercilessly use that to his advantage in taking over a game by scoring a basketball that he's simply afraid to shoot from outside 10-12 feet. Still a massive threat, of course, but not the type you'd dread looking dead in the eyes after challenging him. Now, I'm still not sure I agree with any Nets' player, never mind one that's extremely limited in his own skill set at this stage of his career, going out of their way to offer the Sixers' billboard material. However, it does say quite a bit about Ben Simmons' reputation around a league in which confidence is key that the lumbering 33-year old who successfully helped shut him down in Game 1 before sitting out Game 2 was far from worried that slighting him will stoke his competitive fire and bring the best out of him in Game 3.
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