The Curious Case of Ben Simmons

you can count the number of three-pointers Ben Simmons has made in his seven year career on one hand if we told you that Shaq was a better free throw shooter than Ben would you be surprised how can somebody be the number one overall pick when Rookie of the Year make three all-star teams and somehow still be considered a bust and the owner of the worst contract in the NBA here is the Curious Case of Ben Simmons his success failures and where he stands today in theory Ben Simmons is a six foot ten point guard with excellent Court Vision Premier defense and Elite athleticism but now in reality he's a disappointing role player on a mediocre Brooklyn team and Simmons couldn't be dominant even after the Nets traded all their Superstars but how did it get so bad how come Simmons shot 70 percent from the free throw line in his first playoff series in just 33 percent in his last one if we go back to his college days Ben had one of the most productive seasons in recent memory being the first NCAA player since 1986 to average over 19 points 11 rebounds and four assists per game he was one of the most fluid and coordinated athletes you'll find in any sport not just basketball long strides great body control and unpredictable change of pace Simmons did things in transition we haven't seen from somebody his size and because of his tremendous ball handling and a knack for finding open teammates with bullet passes Ben scouting reports were flooded with LeBron comparison so when Simmons was selected as the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft nobody was surprised but it didn't take long for problems to arise during the 76ers training camp just a few weeks ahead of the Season Ben fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot he was estimated to miss three to four months but because he re-injured the foot during rehab Simmons was forced to miss the whole season Philly fans were in despair after injuries took away the first two years of Joel embiid's career they feared the worst for Ben but as soon as the 2017-18 season started Simmons started showing everyone why he was selected first overall it took him only four games to record his first triple double yes the triple double for one Ben Simmons and he became the only player in NBA history to begin a season with at least 170 points 100 rebounds and 80 assists in his teams first 10 games then finish the year averaging 16 points eight rebounds and eight assists on 55 shooting from the field and he was easily the most versatile rookie since LeBron James Simmons won Rookie of the Year over Donovan Mitchell but even more importantly he helped Philly to win 52 games and reach the playoffs for the first time in six years the process was finally open and the Sixers proved that four years of tanking is a great way to acquire top talent their GM and the master of draft picks Sam Henke suddenly looked super smart especially after the Sixers dominantly won the first round of the playoffs against the Heat Simmons averaged 18 10 and 9 in five games versus Miami and became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to record a triple-double in his first playoff series however the hype around Ben and the Sixers soon dissolve when the next round showed the ugly side of Ben Simmons and exposed his biggest weakness the Celtics were able to completely shut down Simmons driving kick game mainly because of quick switching Center Al Horford Boston gave him a Grand Canyon of open space on the perimeter daring Ben to shoot and staying close to everybody else it worked like a charm then looked lost unmotivated and completely harmless the Sixers offense got extremely clogged and they lost the Series in five even though his versatility defensive prowess and cord Vision got heaps of Praise just a few weeks prior Simmons was suddenly the most hated man in Philadelphia news outlets and fan forms trash his game and character wondering how a point guard could be such a terrible shooter but some cooler heads defended Simmons saying that he's still at the beginning of his career Ben Simmons who's going to be a star in this game eventually assuming he works on his mid-range jump shot after all there were plenty of Hall of Fame ball handlers who came to the NBA with a broken jump shot namely Jason Kidd Grant Hill and LeBron when the 2019 season started Simmons was still without a jump but he was so good otherwise that it didn't matter for Philly to win games especially after the mid-season acquisition of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris by the end of his sophomore year Simmons became an All-Star with 22 triple doubles and zero made threes out of 17 attempts when Philly was winning the 6 fans and the general public didn't care about his lack of shooting but in the second round of the playoffs against Toronto Ben's role quickly changed from ball dominant point guard to offensive decoy it was like winning an Oscar and then competing on Dancing With the Stars what was most infuriating about Ben was his engagement and motivation he often looked like he didn't even want to be on the court and his disappearing act did not sit well with the Sixers fans I'm China comes in the game and you just said they're not doing nothing I'm getting paid that's hot food in game seven when that jump shot winning after four bounces and knocked the Sixers out of the playoffs the first guy everyone blamed was Simmons still his coach publicly praised his game and defended his weaknesses Simmons also vowed to get better as a shooter and help his team win championships when the next season started the Sixers played a preseason game against a Chinese team and Simmons finally made his first career three-pointer the Sixers were so happy they celebrated like they won a championship still it wasn't like he became Steph Curry during the entire 2020 regular season Simmons only made two out of seven attempted threes but his all-around game became even more impressive especially on the defensive end Ben led the NBA in steals and made the third all-nba team and first-team all defense but then he got injured before the playoffs and the Sixers were swept in the first round in 2021 Simmons made his third All-Star team recorded a record high 42 points and finished second in voting for defensive player of the year when the playoffs came around his Achilles heel became more evident than ever not only did Ben's shot not improve it reached the lowest of the lows during the playoffs Simmons struggled at the free-throw line and became the worst free-throw shooter in postseason history at 34.2 percent surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal thanks to his shooting struggles Ben's confidence evaporated a glass of water in the desert and because he was afraid to get fouled and shoot free throws he stopped driving to the basket which made him completely useless on offense in the second round against the Hawks Simmons did not attempt a single shot in the final quarter in 5 out of seven games then the low light of his career came in game seven with three minutes to go in the Sixers down by two points Simmons had a wide open dunk but then passed the ball because he was afraid to get fouled for Simmons uncontested had a layup but he leaves it for thiable this completely shifted the momentum of the game and the Sixers lost once again with Ben scoring only 19 points over the final three games of course just like in previous years the general public threw him under the bus I think he doesn't have what it takes mentally to play here but unlike before his teammate Joel embiid and his coach didn't defend him Simmons was crucified for his lack of shooting more specifically for a lack of any kind of progress in that department writing was on the wall and it was only a matter of time before he was going to get traded and despite four years left on his Mammoth contract in August of 2021 Ben decided to ask for a trade the only problem was that his trade value had sunk extremely low and it was hard for the Sixers to trade him and that's when the real drama started Ben threatened to miss training camp to enforce his trade demand while the Sixers wanted him to play to build up his trade value you've got to be kidding me Ben Simmons is out here making demands Ben Simmons Simmons as he had indicated missed training camp which embiid called extremely disrespectful Ben's absence forced the 76 Sixers to withhold the first quarter of his 32 million dollar annual salary which sobered up Simmons he returned to the team on October 11th he was only there with his body while his Spirit was somewhere else a few days after he started practicing coach Doc Rivers threw Simmons out of a practice due to negligence to do certain drills and his overall bad attitude and poor body language the team suspended Ben for the season opener and his fines for missing training camp and team meetings amounted to 1.4 million dollars Simmons next course of action was to say he was having mental health problems nobody really believed him the Sixers continued to give him fines for not showing up to work and by the end of 2021 Simmons became the most fined player in NBA history surpassing 10 million dollars in fines in the space of just six months Ben Simmons and the 76ers relationship went from good to bad to extremely ugly from a near defensive player of the year to a playoff disaster and then to a guy who doesn't even want to put the team jersey on finally on February 10th of 2022 Simmons was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden James Harden to Philadelphia and Ben Simmons to Brooklyn most NBA analysts viewed the trade as a win-win and there were still plenty of Hope for Simmons with Philadelphia the embed and Simmons pairing offered very little spacing as they both like to operate in the same space on the floor and have the ball in their hands with the Nets it should have been much easier for Ben to play the role of the small ball Center and essentially be what Draymond Green is for the Warriors because the Nets had KD and Kyrie they didn't require Ben to score he was brought in to play defense rebound and set up shots for teammates he had all the tools to succeed in that room speed finishing at The Rim play making from the high post and a killer transition game soon after his trade Simmons was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back ruling him out for the remainder of the regular season on the 21st of April Simmons reportedly planned to make his season debut in game four against the Celtics he sent the message to his teammates that he would play and the whole world looked forward to his Net's debut in a must-win game but just before the opening tip Ben changed his mind and said that he wouldn't play after all which caused another round of confusion and scrutiny the Nets lost the game and the series and Simmons underwent back surgery then finally at the beginning of the 22-23 regular season Ben returned to action but it didn't look pretty and he looked like a shell of his former self Simmons looked uncomfortable just looking at the basket let alone trying to make a jump shot once again he was not driving to the basket because it exposed his shooting struggles from the free throw line and he shot just 44 by far the worst Mark in the NBA his passive play was detrimental to the team and what was worst of all his defense wasn't much better either due to injuries Simmons lost some of his mobility and athleticism and when he was on the court the Nets were a disaster however around Christmas Simmons finally started to play better on January 17th Simmons recorded his first triple-double as a net logging 10 points 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Spurs things look like they were improving then in February Simmons had his knee drained which removed him from the lineup then on the 24th of March the Nets announced that Simmons had been diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his back and would be out for the rest of the season Ben still had two years left on his deal worth 78 million dollars which is without any doubt the worst contract in the NBA so far Simmons played Just 55 percent of possible games he's made just five career three-pointers and he's showing more and more injury concerns he still shoots with the wrong hand because he's a natural righty but his dad raised him to shoot with his left if you look at his hook shots floaters layups and dunks he has a far better touch with his right hand there's an undeniable potential in his shot but the worst thing is that he never progressed as a shooter he's gotten worse which trashed his confidence but the reality is that Simmons doesn't ever need to be anything more than an average shooter just like Draymond or Giannis if he's even a 30 shooter for three and a 70 percent at the free throw line he would be able to aggressively attack Closeouts and drive to the basket without the fear of being fouled and sent to the line Giannis is arguably the best player in the NBA and he's not a good shooter Ben Simmons is physically the closest thing to Giannis there is in terms of running the floor and attacking the basket in transition and Simmons is still only 27 years old and if he gets his head together and his body right he can still be an effective NBA player maybe even an All-Star but those are some big ifs at this point he's more likely to retire than to return to his All-Star form foreign

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 588,051

Keywords: nba, ben simmons

Id: lvWEqLM3O_A

Length: 11min 19sec (679 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023