National Basketball Association

Ben Simmons struggling to regain All-Star form early in Nets tenure

Updated Jan. 26, 2023 10:58 a.m. ET

Ben Simmons' first three games back, after missing a season of play, have been underwhelming.

The Brooklyn guard fouled out for a second time in three games in the Nets' 134-124 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, and Simmons has scored just 17 points this season.

In three games, he has 14 fouls.

Simmons has struggled defensively, too. Both of the Grizzlies' starting guards went off on Monday, with Ja Morant and Desmond Bane each scoring 38 points and shooting better than 50% from the field.

On Tuesday's ’Undisputed,' Shannon Sharpe said that the Nets are simply playing "four-on-five" when Simmons is on the court.

"You can't win a championship with Ben Simmons on your team because he's a liability on the offensive end. At least when he was a liability on the offensive end [with the 76ers], he could lock down one of the best players on the opposing team.

"Now, he can't even do that. If he can't lock them down defensively, and you already know he'll give you next to nothing on the offensive end, I don't really know the good he can do for you."

Ben Simmons fouls out for second time in three games in loss to Grizzlies

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless questioned what's wrong with Ben Simmons after poor start to tenure with the Nets.

In four seasons with Philly, Simmons averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals, while shooting 56% from the field. He was also a three-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive first team player with the Sixers, as well as a member of the All-NBA third team in 2020.

In three games with Brooklyn, he's averaging 5.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists, shooting 53.8% from the field.

Skip Bayless said that the "lack of Ben Simmons" was the difference in Monday's high-scoring loss. Bayless also took issue with Simmons' complaint about his final foul call following the game. Simmons said the foul that ended his night "wasn't a foul," adding that it was a "bulls---" call.

"It's BS that you're bringing it up," Bayless said. "You lost. It was your sixth foul call."

Bayless gave Simmons some credit for the plays he made as a passer, as he dished out eight assists on Monday. However, Bayless believes Simmons isn't the same player he once was, as the Nets hold the league's worst defensive rating (124.6) through the first week of the season.

"I saw one flash in one preseason game where Ben Simmons looked like Ben Simmons," Bayless said. "Since then, he's looked like a guy who's been suffering from amnesia, where he forgot completely that he ever played basketball, and he's trying to re-learn how to play it all. Like, at a rudimentary level.

"I don't see any passion. I don't see any urgency. I don't see any intensity. I just see him drifting through the game."