Ben Simmons’ NBA Hiatus Has NFL Players Believing They Can Outscore 3x All-Star, Reveals Bucs Legend

The Nets fans nearly had a heart attack when a rumor that Ben Simmons would miss the 2024-25 season for personal reasons quickly circulated a few days ago. A closer look at the source, and they breathed a sigh of relief. It was ‘NBA Centel’ that tweeted the false information. But even if it was for a second, no one doubted the credibility and how could anybody? The man has been off the court longer than he’s been inside. And now, this very fact has a few NFL players believing that they can surpass him with little to no effort.

The latest episode of Gil’s Arena saw an explosion of contradictory opinions as the age-old ‘Can NFL players make it in the NBA and vice versa?’ debate re-ignited. And with the former 6x Pro Bowler, Gerald McCoy, also in the show, it was a full-fledged back-and-forth. And per the Bucs‘ legend, he has “teammates and buddies and homies” who say that they can easily play basketball.

That’s where Simmons got roped in. “I have teammates in the locker room be like ‘Oh, I can do a Ben. I can go get more than Ben Simmons,'” McCoy revealed. No doubt they chose the easy prey, given that the 28-year-old played in just 57 games out of the 246 games in the last three seasons.

The 2021-22 season was a no-show for Ben, following which he played in just 42 and 15 games in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Of course, the nerve injury on his back has been the cause for such long absences. Simmons had missed his rookie season (2016-17), too, because of a foot injury. And while his career 56.0% shooting from the field is certainly higher than average, his 13.9% from the three doesn’t help his case.

Despite it all, McCoy believes that football players haven’t fully grasped the level of difficulty in basketball.

Gerald McCoy points out that football players “DON’T” understand the skills necessary to be a basketball player

Yes, that includes Ben Simmons. There’s a reason the Australian was the 2016 No. 1 pick. Sure, his game has declined, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he was among the select few lucky enough to be in one of the elite basketball leagues in the world. And it was in large part thanks to his skills like the ability to play any five positions, setting up teammates with assists, exceptional playmaking ability, and defense.

These “skills” are what the 6’4 former defensive tackle pointed out as one of the major aspects that set basketball players apart from football players. “I don’t think they understand how athletic – one, strong, physical, how quick and the skill of playing the NBA game is setting in picks, getting rebounds, moving here,” McCoy explained.

He further added that there’s just one thing NFL players, if they get enough basketball training, can do – “Try and play defense. Set some screens.” Their natural physicality and strength would work well in the role of a defensive big or setting screen. But that’s all they can do, per Gerald McCoy.

Of course, Rashad McCants was quick to point out that there would be many NFL players ready to disagree with him. Naturally. Interestingly, though, the Philadelphia Eagles legend, Jason Kelce, believes that “30 guys that are talented enough to play in the NFL” can surely be found.

But to each their own. And on that note, tell us what you think.