He spoke to the former 76ers point guard in the locker room after their first loss of the season.
Ben Simmons made his regular season debut with the Nets Wednesday night in the team’s season-opener, but it was a less than ideal start in his new home. Simmons finished the game with just four points after fouling out, and afterwards Kyrie Irving was asked what the team can do to better get him involved early on in a game.
“He just gotta get reps and minutes. I think it’s as simple as that,” Irving said. “We told him in the locker room he is a valuable piece for us and we need him out there and fouling out is not an option.
“Playing aggressive is something that we want him to do, but we also want to play smart, and we can hold each other accountable in that locker room, which I’m glad for,” he continued. “So we talked about it.”
Simmons’ night finished with just three shot attempts in 23 minutes of action as the Pelicans cruised to a 130–108 victory.
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