Ben Simmons Pays Tribute To Egg Boy On His Sneakers
“Egg Boy” is the international moniker given to 17-year-old Australian Will Connolly, who threw an egg at Australian senator Fraser Anning, the lawmaker who reached to last weekend’s New Zealand massacre that blamed immigration by Muslims for the massacre that killed Muslims. Anning immediately turned around and punched Connolly. Egg Boy was arrested and then released without charges.
Now, Connolly has gotten support from a fellow Australian: NBA star Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons, in Tuesday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, wore yellow sneakers with the word “Egg Boy” written on them, per Deadspin. Simmons scored 28 points, on 11-for-12 shooting from the floor, to lead the 76ers to a 118-114 road victory over Charlotte. It was the Sixers’ fifth straight win, one in which star center Joel Embiid sat out in order to rest ahead of the team’s game against archrival Boston Celtics later this week.
The 76ers currently have a 46-25 record and are in position for the third seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, Philadelphia would face the Detroit Pistons in the first round.
While Simmons’ reputed girlfriend Kendall Jenner came to Charlotte to watch Simmons in the NBA All-Star Game last month, she does not appear to have been in attendance for Tuesday night’s game.
Simmons, like Egg Boy, was born in Melbourne, Australia. His mother is Australian, while his father was an American who met Simmons’ mother when he came to Australia to play basketball.
Like many of his contemporaries in the NBA, Simmons has been outspoken about politics. In a September 2017 interview, Simmons ripped President Donald Trump around the time Trump insulted NFL players for their protests during the National Anthem.
. @BenSimmons25 ya ledge! #eggboy pic.twitter.com/X3tOw4XkoT
— Hayley Byrnes Hartlage (@HayleyByrnes) March 20, 2019
“I think he’s an idiot,” Simmons said of Trump, per Fox Sports Australia.
“If we were in Australia right now, a lot of people would call him a d*ckhead, and that’s how I personally feel… I think, as a man, you’re not supposed to be tweeting like that, saying remarks about women, what people should be doing, how you talk to leaders of other countries, and putting America in a situation where it doesn’t need to be like that.”
That interview took place before Simmons, who sat out his rookie season injured, had played an NBA game.
A GoFundMe campaign, called “Money For Eggboi,” had raised more than its stated goal of $50,000 in just three days. The campaign says it will spend the money on “legal fees” and “more eggs.”
