Shaquille O'Neal slams 76ers for handing star $170 million

Receiving criticism is nothing new for Philadelphia 76ers No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, but the hate is still pilling on nearly a decade later.

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal never minces words when it comes to hatred toward certain modern-day players, especially three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. When O'Neal was asked by Complex to name his W.O.A.T. (worst player of all-time), he swiftly responded with Gobert, followed by a sounding off on the ex-Sixers guard.

"Ben Simmons is another bum, because you know why? I'm going to tell you why. If you sign a contract for 250, show me 250," O'Neal said. "There's a reason why I walk funny and why I can't turn my neck because I played for my 120, so you got guys like him that [expletive] the system over there making all this money and they can't [expletive] play, so I don't respect guys like that."

While O'Neal is making a bit of an exaggeration of Simmons' contract, the Sixers' front office did pay him a five-year, $170 million maximum contract extension in 2019 . He is set to make roughly $40 million with the Brooklyn Nets this season.

"You know every time I make these comments people think I'm hating, but these are facts," O'Neal shared. "You got teachers, you got firefighters, you got doctors who have real jobs and don't get paid [expletive]."

At age 28, there's time for Simmons to prove the immense number of doubters wrong, but the odds are far from in his favor.

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