Ben Simmons might not be in the NBA anymore, but that won’t stop Stephen A. Smith from finding reasons to embarrass him on First Take.
During a segment about the San Antonio Spurs and other championship contenders in the Western Conference, Smith discounted the Los Angeles Lakers because of their poor perimeter shooting. And somehow, Ben Simmons entered the chat.
“They ain’t quite Ben Simmons,” Smith joked. “But in the same breath it’s like, damn, when all you got to do is run into the paint area and you daring them to shoot, that’s a problem!”
Vincent Goodwill quickly questioned why Simmons was catching a stray on a random Tuesday in February when he’s not even in the league. And that’s when Smith decided it was open season on Simmons.
“As long as First Take is in existence, Ben Simmons will catch strays. I ain’t apologizing for it to a damn soul. There is no bigger thief in the history of the NBA…if Ben Simmons runs near a basketball arena, he should be arrested.” – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/Xdc6WksTqX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 17, 2026
“On this show, as long as First Take is in existence, Ben Simmons will catch strays,” Smith insisted. “I ain’t apologizing for it to a damn soul. There is no bigger thief in the history of the NBA than that man. You talk about a dude that would not shoot the damn basketball that is the biggest thief. I mean, if Ben Simmons runs near a basketball arena, he should be arrested. That’s how bad it was.
“Now, if the man walked away from the game, that would be different. But that man made sure his check cleared twice a month in the NBA. You so traumatized that you can’t shoot, but you wasn’t traumatized to go to TD or Wells Fargo or someplace to make sure your money was in that bank account.”
This isn’t the first time Smith has gone after Simmons or been somewhat dismissive of his mental health struggles, and clearly, he doesn’t expect it to be the last. Just last week, Smith lamented “soft-ass, irrelevant, nonproductive people” for going “scorched earth” on him without cause. And here he is going scorched earth on Ben Simmons, seemingly out of nowhere while promising to continue to do it again and again.
Simmons deserves to be criticized as an NBA player. But right now, he isn’t one. And it’s one thing if Smith wants to caution teams against giving Simmons another chance in the future. But right now, the former All-Star isn’t promoting a comeback. This was just Smith relishing the slow sports schedule by finding an opportunity to take potshots at Simmons.