Rivalries are one of the great aspects of sports and are one of the many reasons they captivate millions. One of the most enthralling stories of the 2019 NBA playoffs so far is without a doubt the rivalry, or beef, ingrained in the 76ers Nets series.  

Young gun star, Ben Simmons, of the 76ers and more mediocre veteran Jared Dudley have been involved in ongoing trash talk and mind games. The starting point of the beef was a comment Jared Dudley made after a game saying, that Simmons was a great transition player, but average in the half court and a bad shooter.

Going into the series the Nets were basically viewed as an afterthought. They had a very rough start to the season and their playoff hopes looked very bleak. However, outstanding performances from D’Angelo Russell and his new leadership role have boded very well for the team.

The tension finally boiled over in game four, when Jared Dudley shoved 76ers star Joel Embiid and an almost brawl broke out. Both Jared Dudley and Ben Simmons ended up in the crowd and Dudley was ejected. After the scuffle ensued Embiid was cited as calling Dudley a “nobody.”

But the question that is on the NBA communities mind is: why would Simmons, an NBA all-star and rookie of the year last year, even engage with a talent such as Dudley. Twitter has recently exploded criticizing Simmons for beefing with Dudley. The general populace views Simmons acknowledgment of Dudley’s comments juvenile and pointless. Why would a Varsity player have a dispute with a Junior-Varsity player?

The best answer anyone has is Ben Simmons is young. Simmons is only 22 years old and Dudley is 11 years older. Does anyone expect the person who is barely able to drink to have the mental fortitude to ignore the lesser player?