On an episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast in April, Simmons caused a stir after his comments on voting for New Orleans Pelicans’ Herbert Jones over Green made headlines.
Simmons replied to Green’s tweet, saying he was still rooting for him. “Excited to see what you have in store for your 2nd year, good luck,” Simmons wrote on Twitter.
“I don’t care you’re scoring 40 points and your team’s 19-60. Congratulations. Herb Jones is like guarding dudes in real games.
“Now, the Houston people are going to be mad at me. I’m sorry. I like winning players, I’m sorry. Jalen Green will get there, it’s just that team was 21-61 this year or whatever.”
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Players around the league chimed in on Simmons’ comments with Draymond Green and Joel Embiid the most notable, taking umbrage with voters’ ability to impact players contracts down the line.
Simmons later clarified his comments, saying he is “always leaning toward a rookie like Herb Jones who was meaningfully contributing to a decent team over someone putting up stats on a bad team”
The 20-year-old averaged 17.3 points (second among rookies) 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 42.6 percent shooting and 34.3 percent from the 3-point line in 67 games, joining Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes and Franz Wagner on the First Team.
Green finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting behind Barnes, Mobley and Cunningham.
