"Jontay Porter tried though": NBA fans react to Ben Simmons' latest IG story on betting on himself

Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons is busy working on his game in the offseason and is betting on himself of coming back better next time around. NBA fans took notice and gave their fierce takes on social media.

The 27-year-old three-time NBA All-Star, who has seen limited time in his two years so far with the Nets, recently took to his Instagram story, posting a black-and-white photo of himself making his way to the gym with a text that read:

"It hits different when you bet on yourself and it pays off..."

The post is part of his series of social media posts chronicling the progress he has been making in working on his game for the next NBA season.

NBA Central shared Ben Simmons' post on its X page (formerly Twitter):

Fans picked up the post and immediately gave their savage takes on it.

Some fans took cue from the word "betting" to make reference to former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, who was slapped with a lifetime ban by the NBA for violating the league's gambling policies this season.

One fan wrote:

"Can't do that. Jontay Porter tried though"

A few more fans gave a similar take.

"The last man who bet on himself," said one fan, who had a photo of Porter on his post.

"Johntay porter 2.0??" another fan dared to ask.

There were some fans, meanwhile, who viewed Ben Simmons' offseason work with skepticism.

"Here we go again," wrote one unconvinced fan.

One chose gaming references to make his point, writing:

"Ben Simmons back from his side missions now he betting on his self like he got the cheat codes to life ... but we all know he's just stuck on the tutorial level!"

"Pretty much every year" one skeptical fan chimed in.

Then there were others who downright placed him in near insignificance.

"He right. He's been locking down the bench for years," one wrote.

Still another said, "He hasn't retired yet?"

This season, Simmons only played 15 games because of various injuries and averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 24 minutes.

Team Australia was hoping to have Ben Simmons for Olympics

Team Australia was hoping to have NBA All-Star Ben Simmons join it in the Paris Olympic Games later this year until back problems shut him down for the remainder of the ongoing season with the Brooklyn Nets.

Australian Boomers coach Brian Goorjian shared this in a report that came out in Sports Illustrated, where he highlighted that the 27-year-old Melbourne native wanted to be part of the team until health issues clouded it.

The coach said:

"I really feel that he's committed to Australia. I thought he looked really motivated... When I met him face to face ... he looked me in the eye, and he shook my hand and said, 'I want to be a Boomer.'

"Since I've been involved with the Boomer to now, he hasn't played in the NBA. If he's not playing in the NBA he's not playing for the Boomers, nor do we want a guy that isn't in a position to play, that's not fair to the other guys."

Simmons is currently working hard on his conditioning and game. Whether that leads to a call-up for Team Australia remains to be seen.