Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports

Ben Simmons issues warning to Lakers, Nets

Originally posted on Game 7 | By Carlos Garcia | Last updated 4/13/21

The Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets are set to face off this week. There has already been a decent amount of trash talk.

Although Philly owns first place in the East, the Nets are the team that everyone expects to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Currently, Brooklyn is 5-2 to win the championship – best in the whole NBA.

Ahead of this week’s showdown, Ben Simmons sat down and offered his thoughts on where the Sixers fit in to the league’s hierarchy. The young star’s message can be best summed up as a warning shot to both the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers.

In a conversation with Rich Hofmann of The Athletic, Simmons got very blunt about a potential rivalry with the Nets.

Ben Simmons: "We're going for the past champs, the Lakers. They were the ones who won a championship, so you got to give the respect to them. Obviously Brooklyn has a lot of talent. But at the end of the day, there's only one ball and you gotta play defense too."
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) April 13, 2021

Philadelphia currently ranks seventh in the NBA in points allowed per game with 108.3. Simmons is a big reason why, as his ability to guard one through five on defense is nearly unmatched in the league.

This article first appeared on Game 7 and was syndicated with permission.

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