"If he was in my locker room, I would have knocked his ass out."
WOW.
That's Shaquille O'Neal pulling no punches on his disdain for Ben Simmons on Sunday night after the 76ers got bounced from the playoffs.
... and Shaq was so disgusted with the way Ben played -- and then explained his terrible performance -- he talked about how HE would've dealt with Ben if Simmons was his teammate.
Shaq's comment drew shock and even some laughs from his "Inside the NBA" co-hosts ... but Shaq replied, "I ain't laughing."
24-year-old Simmons -- the #1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft -- did not play well during the series against the Atlanta Hawks ... especially during that crucial Game 7.
In fact, Ben only scored 5 points -- including 1 point in the 4th quarter -- in a 103 to 96 loss to ATL.
After the game, Simmons told ESPN, "I ain't shoot well from the line this series ... Offensively, I wasn't there. I didn't do enough for my teammates. ... There's a lot of things that I need to work on."
During the post-game show, Shaq was critical of Simmons.
"If I played Game 1 and 2 and I know I’m not helping my teammates, what do you think I’m going to do in Game 3? It don’t take you seven games to realize that, I don’t wanna hear that man."
"It don’t take seven games for you to know that you’re not playing right ... Get right!"
Shaq continued, "He's not getting double-teamed, just be aggressive, that’s all I want. I don’t want to hear all that, stop that, cut it out."
As for the Hawks, they'll move on to play the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conf. Finals.