“He is another b*m.” That harsh line from Shaquille O’Neal last year really summed up how far Ben Simmons’ public image has fallen. In the last few seasons, Simmons has been heavily criticized. It was because of his poor form and uncertain future in the NBA.
This season, instead of making headlines on the basketball court, Simmons surprisingly grabbed attention in the Sport Fishing Championship, leaving many people with the same question: What really happened to the former Rookie of the Year? Now, his former agent, Rich Paul, has finally offered a blunt explanation.
Rich Paul Questions Ben Simmons’ Commitment to the Sport
On a recent episode of the “Game Over” podcast, co-host Max Kellerman asked Paul to explain why Simmons never became the superstar many expected him to become. Paul didn’t dance around it. He gave a straightforward response to that question.
“Those are two different scenarios, because the difference is everything that Ben wanted to happen for Ben happened for Ben. He was the number one pick in the draft. He was the Rookie of the Year. He was a perennial All-Star. He was All-NBA. And he got the max contract.”
“There are two ways to go about this. Either you love what the game brings you, or you love the game. And when you play this game for so long as a kid, most kids don’t say, ‘Oh, I want to get to the NBA, and I want to be great in the NBA for 15 years,” said Paul in the podcast.
This hits hard. To understand what Paul said, you have to remember how Simmons started.
He came into the NBA as the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. It was when the Philadelphia 76ers selected him. He didn’t play right away because a foot injury wiped out his entire 2016-17 season. His real debut came in the 2017-18 season. Honestly, for the next few years, things looked promising.
From 2017-18 through 2020-21, Simmons was a very good player. His average production in those years sat at 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, which is solid for someone who impacted games in multiple ways.
He also stacked up accolades. If we see, this included the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018, three straight All-Star selections from 2019 to 2021, All-NBA Third Team in 2020, and many more. It can be said that this résumé isn’t “b*m” material. But it’s actually the resume of a player who was slowly developing towards a great career.
Then the turning point arrived. It was in the 2020-21 playoffs.
Philadelphia’s season ended badly. It was a second-round Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and Simmons was at the center of the storm that started. His free throws were a major issue, and the moment everyone replayed was that passed-up dunk that turned into a symbol of hesitation.
The next season, he basically disappeared. Simmons held out, asked for a trade, and spoke about mental health struggles during the standoff. Eventually, the 76ers traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in February 2022 as part of the James Harden deal. But even after the trade, he didn’t play a single game that year because his back issues got severe enough to require surgery.
Simmons finally suited up for Brooklyn in 2022-23. But that version of him wasn’t close to the old one. In his first season with the Nets, he averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game, and that is where Paul’s explanation comes in.
Paul basically made it sound like this wasn’t just about one playoff series or one shooting problem. In his view, Simmons couldn’t keep building on his early success because the deeper drive wasn’t always there.
“They dream of making it to the NBA. And so you’re going up that mountain. You’re going up that mountain. Some guys get up that mountain and say, ‘Phew, I made it.’ The point I’m trying to make is some guys get there and are like, ‘Okay, good. I got up here. Now I’m going to go back down… Some guys get there and are like, ‘Okay, now I want to go higher.’ And that’s the difference,” added Paul in the podcast.
Right now, Simmons seems to be taking a cautious approach with his career. He has suggested he doesn’t want to “waste an NBA spot” by returning before he can truly give everything. Honestly, that’s a mature mindset, even if people clown him for it.