Sixers' Ben Simmons Makes Bold Claim About Furkan Korkmaz

When Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons is off the court, the young guard typically spends his downtime playing video games. And oftentimes the starting guard will livestream the event and interact with some viewers virtually.

Simmons doesn't necessarily do a Q&A with the fans over the stream, but he will peek into the chat every once in a while to see what's being said. Sometimes, Simmons will come across a question or a statement that stands out to him, and he'll react.

During the NBA's suspension last year, Simmons acknowledged a viewer talking about the Sixers getting Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker on their team. The three-time All-Star also called Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert nearly a year ago as well.

This time around, Simmons made noise with another statement, but it didn't have anything to do with current players on other teams. Instead, Simmons made an extremely bold claim regarding his teammate, Furkan Korkmaz.

"Furkan versus Dirk Nowitzki on a one-on-one, who do you got?" Simmons read aloud. "I got Furkan all day," he responded. "You can't stop him."

Well, that right there is quite the claim. Now, I'm not sure if we're talking prime Dirk Nowitzki versus Furkan Korkmaz today -- or Furkan versus the 42-year-old retired Dirk Nowitzki, but either way, Simmons was bold for that one.

That's not necessarily a knock on Furkan. While the young Turkish sharpshooter certainly has his high moments, Nowitzki is a former champion, MVP, and 14-time All-Star. Not a lot of NBA players touch those accomplishments.

But at the end of the day, Simmons' mindset is understandable. While he could've spoken the truth while still issuing Korkmaz credit for being a good player, the young star wanted to make sure he had his teammate's back.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.