'I felt singled out': Ben Simmons doubles down on Crown Casino race row

Ben Simmons has doubled down on his claims racial profiling was at play after having trouble gaining entry into Crown casino in Melbourne.

The Aussie star, currently playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, posted on his Instagram story to document his experience on Tuesday.

In it, Simmons is with a group of friends, one of them white.

He said that he and his black friends got “checked” by security, while his white friend did not.

“I find it so crazy that the only guy who doesn’t get checked to go into the casino is this guy,” Simmons said while pointing his phone at his unnamed white friend.

“I get checked, Mike gets checked and Taj gets checked. Thank you Crown Casino.”

Simmons also said that he and a black friend were eventually denied entry.

“Wow,” Simmons said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

And in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, Simmons doubled down alleging he felt “personally singled out” during the incident.

“As you know an incident happened last night at Crown and my friends and I felt personally singled out, no one likes to feel like this,” the NBA All-Star wrote on Twitter.

“I am very passionate about equality and I will always speak up even if it means having uncomfortable conversations.”

Simmons denies outfit issue

However Australian entertainment reporter Peter Ford told Simmons he might want to “check the dress code of Crown”.

“(It) applies to anyone famous or not and any skin colour,” he tweeted.

“He (Simmons) was wearing camouflage pants.”

Simmons responded by claiming his “friend who got let in also had camouflage pants on”.

But Ford aid Simmons “refused to show his ID”, a claim that was again rejected by Simmons.