The Ben Simmons-Donovan Mitchell beef over Rookie of the Year became a feast for fans and brands
In April of 2018, Ben Simmons said he’d “100%” choose himself as rookie of the year. This is a good, normal amount of self-confidence for a player who has been putting up triple-double left and right all season. Nothing wrong with that. Sure, he did then go on to add that no other rookies had done so much as caught his attention that year ...
Meanwhile Donovan Mitchell was a breakout rookie sensation. For example he won the dunk contest, had multiple games over 40 points, and was leading Utah to the playoffs in the competitive West. When he heard Simmons' comments, he decided to get his attention- by wearing a hoodie that questioned Simmon’s status as a rookie in the first place.
You see, Ben Simmons was drafted in 2016, but was injured all season, so according to NBA rules, he counted as a rookie in 2018. According to Mitchell’s hoodies, one emblazoned with the dictionary definition of the word “rookie”, one that simply said “rookie?”, Simmons’ status wasn’t so clear cut.
Both players insisted any and all taunts, digs, or hoodies were lighthearted. So, the media, the shoe companies, and most importantly, the fans took it upon themselves to pump bad blood through that light heart. Leaving us with a beef that took on a life of its own, one in which Simmons and Mitchell were merely avatars representing the two sides. They might not have really hated each other, but there was still plenty of hate to go around.
Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited by: Jiazhen Zhang
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7:27 ok but that's pretty damn funny
Ben Simmons wasn't a rookie.
Ayy Clara Morris
Simmons is a weird dude. He says some weird stuff..
High key should've been a tie
Y’all just be looking for stuff sometimes there was no on court problems just text on news articles and tweets no real problems like others nba players with real beef
Lady who never played sports says, " Van gundy kinda says stuff" lol its nothing funnier than hearing useless commentators talk about players and coaches when they never achieved a pick up game win lmao
need the guy back this bih voice annoying
You suck at narrating
People have to much time on they hands to do this much research
They had beef! What?!
Tatum ended up being the best when I came to the playoffs
Tatum should have won
Donovan was definitely robbed at this. Ben Simmons was drafted on 2016, not 2017.
If Gordon Hayward never left the Jazz, I feel like they coulda been a legit dynasty.
This is honestly one of the NBA's dumbest rules.
This same exact thing happened to John Wall when Blake Griffin win RotY...
Ben Simmons is literally a make a wish kid, why is he in the league?
Beef? What about Christopher Kimball versus America's Test Kitchen? That's some real beef for you..
I still can't stand Ben Simmons...
Ben Simmons ROY, period. Its about logic.
1:19 subtitle over embid that says hooray for my friend
Do a “Shaq vs any player that played after the 1990s” beef
The Jazz vs 76ers in the finals would be an interesting addition to this beef
Love these videos but not this chick, idk her voice annoying
Phil Jackson vs Carmelo and Lebron.
Kinda cool they hited Timmy Turner to narrate this video.
The roomy poet longitudinally replace because orange undeniably happen plus a shut bakery. cloudy, vivacious twist
I'm sorry your voice is so harsh it's hard to listen to. Please put a compressor on it in the future. Great content but the voice is literally distorting. Can't make it through the vid. Someone please tell me who won the beef
The sparkling disadvantage realistically compare because flugelhorn tinctorially shock per a deserted egg. hanging, worthless peen
This video was so good holy crap. Great work
I’d rather have Simmons. Smaller guys who rely on quickness to score fall off steeply in the NBA after they lose a step. Donovan is a nice player for now.
It should've been Don he got better stats and performance
So Denver Could've Have - PG - Donovan Mitchell SG - Jamal Murray SF - Bol Bol PF - Nikola Jokic C - Rudy Gobert
Yikes, this presenter is utter poopy...
No beef cause Mitchell shoot 43% for this career n its funny cause thats john wall n russell career average only deference is Russell n wall average more that 8 assist for the career michtel is it 4. Not saying hey womt get better but all he does is shot. He can't defend rebound ur assist. Ben CANT SHOT TO SAVE HIS LIFE but after that tell me what he cant do . u can cause he does everything else
Whos here after Ben son'd Mitchell in Philly. Again.
Who here after Mitch got ejected cause he got mad he was getting clamped and then blamed the refs 🙋♂️
It’s funny now that Simmons is worse than both Mitchell and Tatum
He is? Explain so? Both players are better game by gamer scorers, but Ben can drop their numbers if he has to. Ben does EVERYTHING else better.
My body
Sorry, but I just can't stand this lady's voice and jokes....
F*** Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell flat out lied about not caring because he proceeding to wear Adidas Shirts attacking Simmons on multiple occasions. Mitchell is the least likable NBA player in the league.
Is it really beef when it is one-sided? Mitchell was the only one complaining as he always does. Simmons was the rightful winner and couldn't have cared less about Mitchell's complaining.
It's sad that Simmons hasn't really improved offensively. I still think that his rookie season was offensively his best season because he hasn't been that aggressive ever since then. He is relying to much on Embiid. Defensively he has improved (he was always a great defender). I miss rookie Simmons, I think it was his best season yet.
@Max Carrillo ^THIS!!!^
Clearly a casual who hasn’t watched the sixers at all
Beef History: Paul George vs the Side of the Backboard
And the guy who finished in 3rd place that year, Jayson Tatum is better than both of them
Cap, back ston ain’t going nowhere with 2 mediocre all stars
ngl i feel like this kinda bias to Simmons
When they meet Simmons has clearly been the better player and Mitchell goes into his shell
This video was too early! It's coming back!
WAYYYY TOO EARLY
5:35 donovan mitchell looks like a darker ben simmons..
Hope the Nets and Bucks meet in the playoffs a couple years so we get Giannis vs Harden
Mitchell easily, a legit rookie that led his team to the Playoffs
So it's Simmons fault that he plays with Embeast?
Kyrie/Bron
Sorry but Ben Simmons is already a 3 time rookie of the year going for his 4th so there’s no competition there.
And what if I told you 3 years ago that Mitchell would be way better than him lmao
But he's not. Scoring more... when you shoot over 30 times a game is not exactly being a better player. Simmons is better in almost every other stat.
Then you’d be lying
HAHA adidas spent so much time & money on a horrible advertisement campaign & lost
Ben simmons is a better overall player by far
As a Jazz fan in Salt Lake I can easily say people bought into this beef hard for a while I thought I was the only Jazz that didn't hate Ben Simmons
If by “Southwest” you mean Utah, how can we trust anything else that is said in this video?
Beef?
This beef is “random fans say random things and some players liked a few photos on Instagram.”
I don’t know why Nike didn’t take Mitchell
My favourite was the Ben Simmons bill ordered that was put up. "Not a rookie - THE rookie!"
76ers are the real losers cause Jaylen brown was in that same draft class and is better. Edit: Also Jayson is better than both Simmons and Mitchell.
@Rob774 Brown is 100% better than Ben. Ben is a better defender, but Brown is still a good defender and way better on offense. The edit was just so I could reiterate that Jayson is better cause that’s a common argument between the fan bases.
First of all...no. Second of all, if you are saying "Jayson" as in Tatum, he wasn't in the Simmons draft.
KD vs Draymond, Steph vs Harden, or Steph vs Russ would be great beefs
kawhi vs fame please
Ik this was gonna be a video years ago lol
It’s more of Jazz fans being salty because Mitchel didn’t win the award
bart simpson be moving up in life
donovan mitchell shouldve won, he played in the harder conference
Dave Simmons (father) played for the Sydney Kings.
Jayson Tatum : Where am i at?
I bet the Nuggets regret trading Mitchell
Jayson Tatum is way better than both of them
These guys literally acting like women. Not surprising for basketball players but still dissapointing
Where's the not just a rookie, the rookie van? You didn't wanna mention it? 😂
Another throwback, but how about the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York (baseball) Giants?
Or a specific beef year, such as 1997 Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls?
Simmons has more brand recognition because he’s so unorthodox. That’s why he won roy
Or how about team beefs, like Ohio State and Michigan?
It's a throwback, but how about Ty Cobb's beef with Babe Ruth?
Reggie Miller Untitled please
ben won in the end anyway lol
It was a summer league game Simmons hurt his foot not training camp. I was at that game so just wanted to make that clear
Yankees vs Boston
As a Jazz fan, I hope these two meet in the Finals. Mainly because of my bias, but also I can smell the reheated beef already...
As a Sixers fan I agree. I would love to easily sweep our way to a championship
And constructed by the nba
Even though they blew a 3-1 lead in the playoffs. Trading away donovan on draft night is going to haunt me as a nuggets fan for years to come
They missed the part where people call ben Simmons every year
Utah is not Southwest of Philadelphia.
3 seasons later and Mitchell has improved so much while Ben Simmons has not shown much improvement.
The narrator's voice is sleep inducing. Great story though. Terrifically written by her
Fans suck
If Ben can fix his shooting then he will be a star at best, and even embiid to me isn’t that great all the time sometimes he shows promise and other times he’s average n other times he’s weak/trash which is weird but at least as a big man has a better shot than Ben lmao smh which should be embarrassing lol
That weasley voice🤣
Jordan vs Thomas would be a great beef segment.
I think Donovan has surely surpassed Ben in popularity and production as of now....maybe not defensively Ben is a beast on D.
Simmons got 90 first place votes, mitchell got 11. It wasn't a race.
The snobbish switch inadvertently drown because change reassembly concern following a lush shoe. simple, legal orchestra