Who is Ben Simmons?
- Ben Simmons was born on July 20 1996 in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy
- Simmons was picked up by the 76ers as the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft
- He played college basketball for one season with the Louisiana State University
Benjamin David Simmons is an Australian professional
basketball player, who currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. According to emerging media reports,
Simmons has refused to play another game for the 76ers.
Born on July 20 1996 in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, 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.
Simmons played
college basketball for one season with the Louisiana State University (LSU)
Tigers. After that season, he was named a consensus first-team All-American and
the USBWA National Freshman of the Year.
Simmons was picked up by the 76ers as the first overall pick
in the 2016 NBA draft. After sitting out a year due to an injured right foot,
he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018. Simmons was selected as an NBA
All-Star in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Simmons represented Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17
World Championship at age 15, helping the team win a silver medal. Simmons’
tournament highlights included a 26-point, 10-rebound, 5-steal outing against
the Czech Republic. A year later, after participating in the Australian Boomers
camp ahead of the Sino-Australia Challenge, Simmons made his senior debut for
Australia in the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship against New Zealand. He
subsequently scored four total points in the two-game series and was a part of
the gold medal-winning Australian team.
He has had an on and off relationship with the Australian team,
In April 2016, Simmons decided to not join the Boomers for the Rio Olympics in
order to concentrate on preparing for his rookie season in the NBA. On May 15, 2019, Simmons confirmed he would represent Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup
and multiple exhibition games against Canada and the United States. In July
2019, Simmons announced that he would not play for the Australian national team
in 2019, citing “professional obligations.”.
In October 2017, Simmons said he wants to
represent Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, he withdrew
from the Australia Olympic squad in order to focus on improving his shooting
skills for the subsequent 2021–22 season
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