Following the Philadelphia 76ers’ 134-123 loss to the Utah Jazz Monday night in Salt Lake City, 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons was asked how he liked being guarded at times by Jazz All-Star center and two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Simmons, who scored a career-high 42 points to go along with 12 assists and nine rebounds, offered a rather bold answer.
“Yeah, I loved when I saw Rudy was guarding me,” he said, chuckling. “I mean, I love being able to go at somebody like that. I felt like it was a little bit of disrespect putting him on me, but it is what it is.”
The Simmons-Gobert matchup came as Philadelphia’s All-Star center Joel Embiid was a late scratch from the lineup because of tightness in his back.
Always one to use perceived slights to motivate himself, Gobert followed his usual custom of “liking” numerous tweets that noted Simmons’ comments.
