Patty Mills On Ben Simmons Withdrawing From The Olympics: “Now More Than Ever, We Need To Support Ben On His Journey”

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Amid all the criticism he's received around the NBA, Ben Simmons decided to skip the upcoming Summer Olympics to focus on improving his game instead of playing for Team Australia. 

Well, that didn't help the player, and he received more criticism from the Australian people. The Simmons slander continued at his own country, blasting him over this decision. The bright side is that Simmons found support in Patty Mills. The veteran player said the team has his back, especially now that he's living an awful moment. 

“As a teammate, as a fan and as a supporter, we all want to see our best players putting on the green and gold and for me in particular, having that thought even to be able to share the court with Benny at some stage in the green and gold, is something I am always going to look forward to and unfortunately now is not going to be the time, and that is OK,” said Mills.

“This place right here, and the program we have developed, and how strong our culture is, this is one place for him that is always going to be here with open arms because we are mates. We are teammates, we are a brotherhood and to be able to represent the green and gold, that is the culture that we have.

“The number one fact and characteristic of our group is how we support each other through the good, bad and ugly, whatever it may be, and Ben isn’t an exception to that. No matter what he does, myself and the team will continue to support him because this is a safe place — everyone needs to know and understand that now more than ever, we need to support Ben on his journey.”

After his shooting struggles were worse and more visible than ever, Simmons' try to improve that. The Australian playmaker didn't leave the best impression in the Eastern Conference playoff and now will try to bounce back to help the Philadelphia 76ers win the championship next year. 

It would've been awesome watching him in Tokyo, but Simmons has different priorities for this offseason.