Here is some news that could not be considered surprising or breaking: Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets and Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers are not making fans happy right now.
There was a lot of attention being paid to both stars as the season started, with people wanting – and demanding – big things from each as a form of redemption for what happened last year.
So far, neither is delivering.
Ben Simmons has more fouls than Russell Westbrook's field goals through 3 games in the 2022-23 NBA season 👀
Simmons Westbrook
14 fouls 11-of-38 FG pic.twitter.com/gay5BONvET— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 25, 2022
When you dig into their numbers, you see something very interesting: Simmons actually has more fouls than Westbrook has field goals through the first three games of the year.
Simmons has accumulated 14 fouls, which has led to him being benched in two out of three games.
As for Westbrook, he has only landed 11 of his 38 field goal attempts.
Which of these statistical embarrassments is worse?
Fouls & Field Goals
The Nets are unhappy with Simmons and the Lakers are also unhappy with Westbrook.
However, right now, it feels as if Simmons has the best shot at redemption.
He can also get his foul issues under control and continue to rack up assists and points as he does.
But Westbrook has shown little improvement with his shooting – actually, he’s gotten worse since last season.
Westbrook was getting 44.4% of his shots last year.
This year, that percentage has dropped to a painful 28.9%.
He will need to turn things around in a drastic way if he wants to win Lakers fans over.
But we haven’t seen any evidence of him doing that and the clock is ticking.
In fact, the clock has been ticking since last season but now it’s gotten so much louder for Westbrook.
NEXT: NBA Fan Makes A Painful Point About The Nets