Inside the Blessing and Curse of Ben Simmons
After the playoffs, the former #1 overall pick has the Sixers in a dilemma: he is a generational talent with elite ability, but he is also the most conflicting star in the NBA
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THINGS WEREN’T SUPPOSED to be this way. After a Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Sixers’ second Game 7 loss in three seasons, they now find themselves at a crossroads.
The team has cycled through former All-Stars and front office executives, reformed their roster multiple times, and, of course, tanked for multiple seasons to create a championship team.
They did the hard work of building a championship team, getting multiple #1 overall picks and a superstar center in Joel Embiid. Embiid, for all of his durability concerns, has been everything and more for Philadelphia. His co-star, Ben Simmons, however, has been a different story.
Simmons, unlike Embiid, was always supposed to be built for superstardom.
He moved from his native Australia to basketball powerhouse Monteverde Academy at 15 years old, joining D’Angelo Russell as a dominant tandem in high school. He graced the cover of Slam Magazine while wearing the same #23 jersey as his idol and mentor, LeBron James. And he had a documentary crew follow him throughout his lone season at LSU.
While he came with his flaws, it was always expected that time would heal all wounds in his game. Simmons dazzled in Summer League — which is ironically the time when he has been most willing to shoot jump-shots — and carried that momentum into the NBA.
It’s easy to forget now, but with Joel Embiid sidelined with an orbital injury, Simmons led the Philadelphia 76ers to 16 straight wins at the end of the season; in the playoffs, he averaged 18.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 9.0 assists as he defeated a scrappy Miami Heat team.
Things took a turn when Simmons struggled against Boston, including having an infamous 1 point game, but for the most part, the Sixers were thrilled, having seemingly found their second franchise cornerstone.
Three seasons later, he has hit a low point in his career, and his repeated failures in the playoffs continually undermine his achievements.
In fact, Doc Rivers, when asked immediately after the Sixers’ Game 7 loss if Simmons could be a championship-level point guard, offered little optimism. “I don’t know the answer to that right now,” he stated. Yet, one day later, he openly admitted he was still bullish on the potential of his 24 year old All-Star.
With four seasons under his belt, Ben Simmons is still a mystery. Whether or not the Sixers can solve that mystery in time to win a championship with Joel Embiid is the question that looms over their franchise.
“THERE’S GONNA BE a lot of rings on this [hand] before we’re done.”
Simmons, in the aftermath of a devastating 2 point loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their second-round series, consoled Joel Embiid. At this point, Simmons had proven his worth to the Sixers’ franchise, averaging splits of 16.3/9.4/7.7 in his first postseason, at just 21 years old.
If there was a moment where optimism around the Sixers had peaked, it was then. They had their two franchise cornerstones cemented who could grow together as a tandem, and they had a full offseason for improvement: Embiid needed to refine his skills and work on his conditioning, while Simmons needed to work on his jump-shot.
In 10 playoff games, Simmons shot 70.7% from the line: a relatively good mark given that he shot 56.0% in the regular season. Of course, it was obvious that there were holes in Ben’s game, as the Celtics limited his effectiveness by walling off the paint and guarding him with Al Horford.
Head Coach Brett Brown had a plan, as well. Ben was to spend time in the summer working with John Townsend, a shooting coach initially hired to work with Simmons when he fractured his foot and missed the 2016–2017 season. He had a four-page document, given by Brown at the end of the season, of areas in which he needed to approve.
However, these plans never came to fruition. As Townsend would tell Brown, the plans had changed.
Rich Paul, Simmons’ representative from Klutch Sports, had jointly decided with Simmons’ family that he would spend the summer working with his brother Liam, a former low-level D-1 basketball player and assistant coach at the collegiate level.
Only, Simmons’ work that summer bore little results. His free throw percentage only rose by 4%, and his finishing at the rim — another emphasis for Brown — remained mostly stagnant at around 71%.
This created an ever-repeating cycle, with Simmons’ preference to remain close to his family coinciding with a stagnation in his skills.
Things got so bad that, in the middle of his second season, according to Yaron Weitzman, when Jim O’Brien (a former assistant coach and a special adviser to Brown) openly asked “Name me one area where Ben Simmons has improved?,” he got no response.
Simmons did improve marginally during the 2018–2019 season, as he established himself as the team’s best perimeter defender — even over Jimmy Butler — while guarding D’Angelo Russell and Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs. However, his shooting once again became an issue, and the Sixers’ lack of floor spacing was a primary cause for their crushing seven-game defeat to the Toronto Raptors.
IN THE OFFSEASON of 2019, all of the Sixers’ hopes seemed to ride on Ben Simmons’ improvement.
In losing Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick, the team lost much of its perimeter creation, playmaking, and shooting. Despite being the team’s best player during the 2019 NBA Playoffs, and having a good relationship with Joel Embiid, the Sixers let Butler leave to Miami.
In doing so, they effectively chose Simmons over Butler, a choice they doubled down on by signing Simmons to a 5-year $170 million extension. Butler was frustrated by a lack of direction and leadership within the franchise, which was evident by his inconsistent role on the team. Simmons, meanwhile, was frustrated with being relegated to an off-ball role in the playoffs, an issue that goes back to his early Sixer days, when he told Yaron Weitzman, “I feel limited if you put me at the 4 position. I don’t feel I can help as much.”
With a team that featured a starting lineup of Simmons, Josh Richardson (a streaky three-point shooter), Tobias Harris, Al Horford (a reluctant three-point shooter), and Embiid, the Sixers needed, more than ever, for Simmons to shoot the ball from the perimeter.
In the past, Brown only compartmentalized these issues: in 2018, he made the decision to start T.J. McConnell next to Simmons, finally pushing the star guard to the forward position, and in 2019, he made Jimmy Butler the de-facto point guard and #2 option on offense while Simmons became an old-school forward against the Toronto Raptors. With the 2019–2020 Sixers, that was never an option: Simmons needed to grow as a player if they wanted to repeat their success as a team.
Yet, despite some flashes of improved finishing and three-point shooting, most of Simmons’ improvement was marginal, and his greatest accomplishments of the season were becoming a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and averaging 20/9/11 when Embiid was out with a hand injury.
Infamously, after Simmons made an open catch-and-shoot three against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brown was emboldened, making one of the more unexpected demands in recent NBA history.
“This is what I want, and you can pass it along to his agent, his family, and friends,” he said in his post-game news conference, “I want a 3-point shot a game, minimum.”
In the subsequent two months, Simmons didn’t show progress with his shot. Astonishingly, he shot only one three-pointer total after being told to shoot one per game.
He agreed to work with a sports psychologist — former Sixers assistant and current Suns head coach Monty Williams suspected Simmons was afraid to shoot because he was afraid that failure would make him “look bad” — and he worked with Chris Johnson, a renowned basket trainer.
Johnson worked with him on hand placement, an often-cited issue with Simmons’ shooting form, and promised results would come in the Orlando Bubble. Some promising moments occurred, as Simmons took more corner three-pointers, but a knee injury ended his season early.
That reality left a frustrated Joel Embiid to take on a superior Celtics team, and as the team watched the rest of the postseason, they saw Jimmy Butler lead his Miami Heat squad — which had missed the playoffs in the season prior — to the NBA Finals.
One might imagine that, had Butler stayed in Philadelphia, he too could have raised Embiid’s play in the same fashion he improved Bam Adebayo’s game.
COMING INTO THIS season, Simmons was excited, and for good reason.
He had a roster that fit him, as the Sixers’ swapped Al Horford and Josh Richardson, two below-average shooters for their positions, for Danny Green and Seth Curry, two elite three-point shooters. He also had a new coach that was excited to work with him, and two teammates (Embiid and Harris) that were healthy and motivated to succeed after the previous season’s early first-round exit.
Rivers, as he did with every Sixer this season, unapologetically and relentlessly went out of his way to praise Simmons. “I could care less,” he once retorted when prompted with a question about Simmons’ inability to shoot. “I’ll let you guys talk about what Ben doesn’t do.”
He praised him even as Simmons got off to a slow start after offseason knee surgery (just 13.3 points per game through December and January), he praised him when Simmons averaged 21 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.8 assists while shooting 70.3% from the line in February, and he praised him when Simmons’ scoring totals dropped precipitously to 11.3 points per game in April and May, including a 50.0% mark from the line in April — a sign of things to come.
Early in the season, with James Harden’s trade request causing turmoil in Houston, Simmons immediately found himself in trade rumors. Would Daryl Morey, who had just joined Philadelphia, immediately trade for his former superstar in Harden? Doing so would require Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, and draft compensation, an extraordinarily high asking price at the time.
The Sixers were rolling at the time, with the #1 seed in the East, Harden looked sluggish as he toiled away in his final games with the Rockets, and Rockets team owner Tilman Fertitta refused to negotiate in good faith with the Sixers. It’s at least understandable why Morey didn’t pull the trigger. Simmons, for his part, was ecstatic that he was staying in Philly, and he played his best basketball of the season in the months after Harden was traded to Brooklyn.
NBA trades are complicated. Any rule of thumb or heuristic in deciding who “wins” a trade is almost inherently flawed — for instance, did the Brooklyn Nets win their trade with the Celtics for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett? Technically, the Nets got the best current players in the deal, but they lost the overwhelmingly lost the trade.
Still, looking back on Philadelphia’s situation, with an over-the-cap team, a superstar center in Joel Embiid, and a dire need for shot-creation and shooting, it’s unmistakably clear that they should have traded Simmons for James Harden.
Months later, a trade of that magnitude is no longer possible: Harden outperformed Simmons during the rest of the season, and he may have been more useful offensively with an injured hamstring than Simmons was in the final 3 games against the Hawks.
The negative developments in Simmons’ game could be traced by Rivers’ post-game comments.
“If you guys don’t know the treasure you have by now,” Rivers said after Game 1 against Washington in the first round, “then shame on everyone because he has been fantastic for us.” Simmons had 6 points, 15 assists, and 15 rebounds in his first playoff game while playing excellent defense on Bradley Beal.
Just four games in, however, the Wizards began intentionally fouling Simmons in a frantic effort to get back into the series. Despite losing Game 4, a game in which the Sixers lost after Simmons went 4/8 from the line when being intentionally fouled, Rivers was still adamant about his point guard’s value. “With Ben, we’re gonna keep him on the floor. Unless you guys want us to bench him the whole game. If anybody wants us to do that, just let me know, and then I’ll know you don’t know basketball,” he boldly declared.
Three games into the second round, Simmons’ playoff performance peaked. He had a 17 point, 10 assist outing in Game 1, a dominant defensive showing against Trae Young in Game 2, and 18 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds in his most aggressive performance by far of the playoffs.
Yet, after a poor Game 4 where he attempted just one shot in Game 4 and admitted “I definitely should have been more aggressive and attacked more,” he never changed his ways, presumably in his head about his free throw woes.
He scored a mere 8 points in Game 5, 6 points in Game 6, and just 5 points in the infamous Game 7 loss. Meanwhile, he shot just 35.0% from the line in those three games and disappeared in fourth-quarter situations, where his fear of getting fouled made him avoid attacking the basket and even bringing the ball up the court. Strikingly, the Sixers’ All-Star point guard did not attempt a single field-goal attempt in the last four fourth quarters of the series.
After Game 5, Simmons admitted his struggles at the line were “definitely, I think, mental.” This was once a player, during the regular season, who boldly declared himself to be the Defensive Player of the Year over Rudy Gobert, and a player who claimed his team had the chance to play for championships.
Yet, the Simmons of old — the one who dominated the NBA at such as young age, the one who compared being a point guard in the NBA to a game of NBA 2K, and the one who promised Joel Embiid that they would win multiple championships — was gone. Here was an ostensibly broken player, one who quietly admitted his disappearance as an offensive player in the aftermath of an epic collapse in the postseason.
“HOW MANY ASSISTS did I have?”
There is perhaps a no better insight into the character, the persona of Ben Simmons than his interview after the Game 7 loss against the Hawks.
Simmons infamously passed up a dunk late in the fourth quarter against the Hawks, when, after making an aggressive spin move to the basket, he passed the ball to Matisse Thybulle, who was fouled. Embiid, who was visibly frustrated immediately after the play (which may go down in sports folklore as “The Pass”) occurred, admitted after the game that Simmons’ non-dunk attempt was the turning point of the game.
After the game, with his future in Philadelphia very much in question, he answered a multitude of pressing queries by reporters.
There were moments, where, like he did after his historically poor Game 5 performance (4/14 from the line), he sounded human and vulnerable.
“I ain’t shoot well from the line this series; offensively I wasn’t there,” he admitted, adding that “I didn’t enough for my teammates.”
This was a side of Simmons that has been hidden, in part because, since coming to America as a 15 year old as a quiet kid, his character turned even more inward. His manager was his brother, Sean Tribe. His agency was Klutch Sports, where one of his sisters had a job. His trainer, in his first offseason, was another brother, Liam.
With Simmons, an already introverted person, surrounding himself with family, there has been little vulnerability shown by him to the public — in large part due to his family’s concern that, in just four professional seasons, he has taken the criticism expected of a ten-year veteran.
However, for all of his vulnerability, there is still another side of Simmons, one whose pride based on his accomplishments — All-Star selections, All-Defense selections, and the Rookie of the Year — will not let others criticize him.
When asked if the NBA postseason brought additional challenges that did not allow him to enjoy the same level of success he has in the regular season, his response was telling.
Turning to a Sixers staffer seated next to him, he audibly asked “How many assists did I have?” The answer was 13, and his exchange was loud enough for reporters to hear him. Turning back to the reporters he stated, “I mean, I feel like I found my guys tonight, which I do in the regular season regardless. Then, he looked at the Sixers staffer again. “What did Trae shoot?” he asked. The answer was 5-for-23.
This exchange was telling because it shows a level of pride that Simmons will not concede. Regardless of his failures offensively, he will never concede his value as an All-Star player because of his playmaking and defense.
To an extent, he was right: it matters that he held Trae Young to 5/23 shooting and it matters that he found his teammates for layups in transition and open threes in the half-court. Yet, praising only his strengths — passing and defense — ignores the fact that his lack of shooting makes the game harder for Tobias Harris, who loves to drive to the basket, and Embiid, who needs to post-up.
When asked again if the postseason felt different, he refused to concede the full extent of his struggles.
“We lost. It sucks. I am who I am, it is what it is. It’s not easy to win and it shows. Nets got finished by the Bucks, it’s not easy to win,” he briefly stated.
“We lost. It sucks. I am who I am, it is what it is.”
— Ben Simmons after Game 7 against Atlanta
FOR ALL OF his shortcomings, Ben Simmons is still a terrific basketball player.
How many players could lead the league in three-point assists over the past two seasons with a roster that consistently finishes in the bottom ten in three-point attempts? How many players, at 6'10", could guard the opposing team’s best player every night?
That reality cannot be ignored when discussing Simmons’ game — it is a blessing for his coaches. Winning in the regular season matters, and Simmons is a key component to the Sixers gaining home-court advantage in the postseason.
But, the curses of his limitations are very real.
Philadelphia, for the most part, cannot force Simmons to play off the ball in the regular season, because he insists that point guard is his top position. Yet, in the playoffs, he shies away from the ball to avoid the free-throw line. He still hasn’t found consistent utility as an offensive player without the ball, whether it be as a post scorer, screener, or cutter.
These two sides of Ben — the All-Star who led Philly to winning records in every season he’s been in the league and the daunted player who stays in the “dunker’s spot” during playoff games — create a conundrum for Sixers GM Daryl Morey.
Trading Simmons now would be letting go of a depressed asset, one whose trade stock has never been lower. Consequently, any package that the Sixers receive will have its limitations.
Yet, can Philadelphia count on a summer turning around their young star’s career? Discussions of what Doc Rivers plans to with Simmons have gone to the extreme, including him switching shooting hands mid-career to his right hand. But again, many highly respected individuals, including Sam Cassell this season and Monty Williams three seasons ago, have tried and failed to get him to shoot the basketball during games.
The clock is ticking for Philadelphia to form a true title contender, with Embiid only having two more seasons on his current contract. Perhaps, the lowest moment of Simmons’ professional career will turn around his play. If not, then the superstar upside he once showed will be just that — unfulfilled potential.
