Ben Simmons, who was once known as James, is rumored to be strongly considering retiring to end his basketball career, and the once hopeful star of the league has now become a hot potato for the team.
This offseason, Simmons announced that he was 100%** back on the court. But since the start of the season, he has only played six games, and without warning, he announced an indefinite hiatus, and no one in the team knows why. This lack of professionalism and responsibility makes people question his future.
Simmons was born on July 20, 1996 in Melbourne, Australia, to a father who was a professional basketball player.
Under his father's arrangement, he was exposed to formal basketball training at the age of 7 and participated in children's basketball games. With his athleticism and unusual basketball talent, he quickly became one of the best kids his age.
In addition to this, he is very fond of rugby and plays in the local youth league. However, at the suggestion of his father, Simmons finally decided to focus on basketball and quickly made a name for himself in the local area.
After entering high school, he represented the school in the Australian High School Championship and was awarded a scholarship by the Australian Institute of Sport for his outstanding performance. In 2012, he was invited to participate in the National Basketball Training Camp, and his outstanding basketball talent was recognized by many professionals.
In 2013, Simmons moved to the United States with his family to improve his basketball skills and joined Montverde Academy to play. When he first arrived, he became the main player of the team, and he helped the team win the high school championship with a winning record.
In his senior season, Simmons averaged 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals per game, leading the team to win the national championship again, and was elected as the No. 1 high school student in the United States with his outstanding performance.
After graduating from high school, many elite basketball schools threw an olive branch to him, and eventually Simmons chose to go to Louisiana State University. In his freshman season, although the team only had an 18-13 record, his individual performance was unanimously recognized by the outside world.
He averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals per game, and was selected to the All-American First Team, and was elected as the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, becoming the favorite for the NBA champion at the time.
At the end of his freshman season, Simmons chose to end his college career early and announced his participation in the NBA draft. In the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the first pick in the first round and officially started his career.
However, before the rookie start, Simmons was out for a year with a broken toe in his right foot and missed a year before the rookie start, and it wasn't until the 2017-18 season that he made his NBA debut.
In his rookie season, Simmons successfully cashed in on his talent and quickly integrated into the team's system, with an excellent big-picture vision and top-tier defensive ability making him a hot new star, winning the Rookie of the Year trophy and being named to the Rookie of the Year team.
At the peak of his debut, Simmons was quickly straightened to become the hope of the team's revival. He also continues to break personal and team records, being named to the All-Star and All-Defensive Team, helping the team reach the playoffs and signing a five-year contract with the team700 million maximum salary contract.
But when the team couldn't go far in the playoffs, Simmons' shooting inadequacy was infinitely magnified. But he still went his own way, ignoring the advice of the outside world and management, and devoting more of his training time to dating and playing games.
The 2020-21 season was an important turning point in Simmons' career, as Simmons' inability to shoot in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Hawks was infinitely magnified, and the Hawks used a long-lost shark-cutting tactic against him. The poor free-throw shooting rate caused him to lose the confidence of the offense, and he was even more famous for missing an empty basket in the tie-break.
After being eliminated by the Hawks, the whole team expressed dissatisfaction with Simmons, and Philadelphia fans even burned his jersey, which eventually led to a complete breakdown of his relationship with the team. In the 2021-22 season, Simmons publicly requested a trade from the 76ers and refused to play, and team management finally couldn't bear to send Simmons to the Nets in a trade.
After coming to the Nets, Simmons still has no desire to attack on the offensive end, and he has not shown the strength he should have on the defensive end, and he chose to refuse to sit on the sidelines and become a spectator in the playoffs, and now he continues to suspend indefinitely on the grounds of injury.
In this way, even if he does not retire, it will be difficult to stay in the league after the contract expires, and it will be difficult for his professional attitude to have a team open a new contract for him, and he will inevitably be hung up with the title of "parallel import" at that time.