The "who deserves to win Rookie of the Year?" debate is heating up in NBA circles. As the season winds down, it's becoming harder to differentiate Philadelphia's Ben Simmons from Utah's Donovan Mitchell. The problem: they've both been great.
Seemingly everyone who follows the game has a different opinion—I fall in the "give it to them both" bucket—but Simmons apparently has no doubt who he thinks deserves to win.
"Who would I pick? Me, 100 percent," Simmons told ESPN’s Chris Haynes Saturday. "I think I have been playing solid all year. If you look at the numbers, you will see. People who know the game know."
Bold words—but maybe he's taking an example from his role-model-turned-best-buddy. LeBron James recently said he'd vote for himself for MVP.
So, what does Mitchell think of Simmons' perspective? It seems—as you'd expect—the Jazz rookie disagrees. He (apparently) responded to the quote with a perfect Waka Flocka Flame GIF on Twitter Monday.
Taking a cue from Simmons' teammate, Joel Embiid, Mitchell also liked tweets about the quote.
Looked who liked the quote @World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/Rh28BUCiVA
This comes after Embiid talked a little smack on Mitchell's Instagram early Monday morning.
Mitchell, who became the Jazz's go-to weapon from day one, is averaging 20.5 points, 3.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. Simmons, who has turned into a one-man show of late, is averaging 16.0 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.
Could this be the league's next great rivalry? We hope so.
