63 Facts About Ben Simmons

1.

Benjamin David Simmons was born on 20 July 1996 and is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association.

2.

Ben Simmons played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, after which he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year.

3.

Ben Simmons attended Box Hill Senior Secondary College in his hometown of Melbourne, Victoria, before moving to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.

4.

Ben Simmons left school to enter the NBA draft, becoming the third Melbourne-born number one overall pick in 11 years.

5.

Ben Simmons is the son of an American-born father, Dave, who played professional basketball in Australia.

6.

Ben Simmons was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy to father Dave and mother Julie.

7.

Ben Simmons's father is an African-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia, and his mother is a white Australian.

8.

Ben Simmons's father played college basketball for Oklahoma City University in the United States before turning professional with the Melbourne Tigers in Australia's National Basketball League in 1989.

9.

Ben Simmons was raised in Newcastle from the age of 18 months while his father played and coached in the city.

10.

Ben Simmons began playing basketball at the age of seven in the Newcastle Hunters' under-12 representative team and played two more years for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle.

11.

At age 10, Ben Simmons returned to Melbourne and began playing junior basketball for the Knox Raiders.

12.

In year 7, while attending Whitefriars College, Ben Simmons was named MVP after he helped Whitefriars win the Year-7 Division 1A Basketball premiership.

13.

In year 9, at the age of 15, Ben Simmons played basketball for Box Hill Senior Secondary College at the 2011 Australian Schools Championships before taking up a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012.

14.

Later that year, Ben Simmons made his first appearance in the United States at the renowned Pangos All-American Camp for basketball prospects.

15.

In January 2013, Ben Simmons moved to the US to compete against boys of comparable size and athleticism.

16.

Ben Simmons attended Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, where he immediately started playing.

17.

Ben Simmons played six games for Bulleen while averaging 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game.

18.

On 14 October 2013, Ben Simmons committed to Louisiana State University, picking LSU over other offers from Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke.

19.

Ben Simmons had 24 points and 12 rebounds as he earned MVP honours.

20.

On 12 November 2014, Ben Simmons signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for LSU.

21.

On 28 January 2015, Ben Simmons was named as a starter for the East team to compete in the 38th annual McDonald's All-American Game.

22.

Ben Simmons again earned MVP honours after recording 58 points and 35 rebounds over the three-day tournament.

23.

On 13 November 2015, Ben Simmons made his college debut in LSU's season opener, recording a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds as a starter in a win over McNeese State.

24.

Nine days later, Simmons came off the bench for the first time after being removed from LSU's starting line-up for their game against Tennessee due to academic reasons.

25.

Ben Simmons was named to the eight-player All-SEC Freshman team.

26.

On 21 March 2016, Ben Simmons declared for the 2016 NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.

27.

Ben Simmons withdrew from school at the conclusion of the season with plans to move immediately to Phoenix, Arizona in advance of the NBA draft.

28.

Ben Simmons signed with American sports agency Klutch Sports, which is primarily owned by Rich Paul.

29.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown, former Australian national team coach and a friend of the Ben Simmons family, repudiated the claims being made and was content with Ben Simmons' pre-draft behaviour.

30.

Ben Simmons was the first college player in the modern era to be selected with the first overall pick despite never playing in the NCAA tournament.

31.

On 3 July 2016, Ben Simmons signed his rookie scale contract with the 76ers and joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League.

32.

Ben Simmons went on to be named in the All-Las Vegas Summer League First Team, and in six Summer League games, he averaged 10.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game.

33.

On 30 September 2016, Ben Simmons rolled his right ankle during the 76ers' final training camp scrimmage.

34.

Ben Simmons went on to become the only player in NBA history to begin a season with at least 170 points, 100 rebounds, and 80 assists in his team's first 10 games.

35.

Ben Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson in 1980 to have a playoff triple-double, and became the fifth rookie with a triple-double in the playoffs, joining Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry Lucas and Tom Gola.

36.

At the season's end, Ben Simmons was named the NBA Rookie of the Year and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honours.

37.

In September 2018, Ben Simmons announced that during the off-season he began working to improve his shooting with his brother Liam Tribe-Ben Simmons, former assistant coach for University of California, Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team and Southwest Baptist Bearcats men's basketball team, and would continue to do so for the remainder of the season.

38.

Ben Simmons reached his 13th career triple-double with 2:34 left in the third and became the first Sixer to ever get one in a home opener.

39.

Ben Simmons reached this milestone in 125 games, which is 9 games faster than Magic Johnson and 33 games faster than LeBron James.

40.

Ben Simmons was drafted by Team LeBron and went on to score 17 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds in a Team LeBron win.

41.

Ben Simmons was sidelined until the NBA returned after pausing play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

42.

Ben Simmons returned to play on 1 August 2020 during the NBA Bubble where he scored 19 points along with 13 rebounds and 4 assists in a loss to the Indiana Pacers.

43.

Ben Simmons finished the season averaging 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game.

44.

Ben Simmons did not attempt a single shot in the final quarter in five out of the seven games, which many attributed to his lack of confidence in shooting free throws.

45.

Ben Simmons averaged 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per game and shot 60 percent from the field and 33 percent from the free throw line against the Hawks.

46.

Ben Simmons declared his intentions to be traded, and noted that he was willing to miss training camp to enforce his trade demand.

47.

Ben Simmons did not play in the preseason and even placed his Philadelphia home on the market for $3.1 million.

48.

Ben Simmons had previously been fined $1.4 million due to his absence from four preseason games, missed practices, on-court workouts, and meetings.

49.

Ben Simmons subsequently filed a grievance to recoup nearly $20 million in salary withheld from him by the 76ers, and the two sides settled in August 2022 for an undisclosed amount.

50.

On 10 February 2022, Ben Simmons was traded, along with Andre Drummond, Seth Curry, and two future first-round picks, to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden and Paul Millsap.

51.

In February 2023, Ben Simmons had his knee drained and received a PRP injection for his ongoing left knee soreness, which he had dealt with during the season.

52.

Ben Simmons represented Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship at age 15, helping the team win a silver medal.

53.

Ben Simmons made his senior debut for Australia in the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship against New Zealand.

54.

Ben Simmons scored four total points in the two-game series and was a part of the gold medal-winning Australian team.

55.

In July 2014, Ben Simmons was added to the Boomers extended squad for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, but did not make the final 12-man roster.

56.

Since 2013, Ben Simmons has verbally stated that he would play for Australia on multiple occasions, but has always withdrawn from the team before competition.

57.

On 15 May 2019, Ben Simmons confirmed he would represent Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup and multiple exhibition games against Canada and the United States.

58.

In July 2019, Ben Simmons announced that he would not play for the Australian national team in 2019, citing "professional obligations".

59.

In 2023, ESPN reported that Ben Simmons had been included in Australia's preliminary team selection pool for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

60.

Ben Simmons's godfather, David Patrick, was an assistant coach at LSU and was a part of his sole season there and is currently the head coach at UC Riverside.

61.

On 7 June 2016, Ben Simmons signed an endorsement deal with Nike.

62.

Ben Simmons is a supporter of the Essendon Football Club, an Australian rules football team in the Australian Football League.

63.

On 3 October 2020, Ben Simmons announced his endorsement for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 2020 United States presidential election.