Simmons: Celtics players did not like Jermaine O’Neal

Here's an interesting footnote from Bill Simmons new column on the rebirth of the Celtics:

Jermaine finished his Celtics career as the team's least popular player, internally, since Vin Baker. The general feeling is, "He stole money from us."

Just dumping O'Neal from the trainer's room so the players didn't have to disgustedly look at him anymore and wonder things like, "Wait a second, isn't his LEFT wrist the wrist that's hurt? He can't play with that? Isn't he right-handed? He's really that big of a pussy?" was probably worth a few extra wins already.

It's hard to understand why one of the league's most thoughtful players — a real warrior once upon a time — felt good about finishing his career with his last set of teammates and coaches believing he was something of a fraud. Just know that, on the slight chance that this Celtics team wins a title or comes close, Jermaine shouldn't expect a full playoff share.

Does Simmons have a team source? Or is this blatant speculation and conjecture?

While we often cracked jokes about Jermaine's fragility, I never thought he was milking the injuries.