The mysterious rise and fall of Ben Simmons. Can he bounce back? Follow Nonstop Instagram: / nonstop TikTok: / nonstop Twitter: / nonstop Imagery supplied by Getty Images
It's pretty clear Ben doesn't care about basketball. To not improve is one thing (Giannis has never developed a jump shot in his career) but to not even attempt to shoot in game when your coaches and teammates are begging you to do it is just crazy. There were questions about his work ethic going back to LSU. The whole Phili offense was predicated around his inability and unwillingness to shoot - even Embiid became a stretch 3 point shooter just to space the floor for him and he still trashed the 76ers on his way out the door because they started treating him like a man instead of the spoilt baby he is. Ben got what he wanted millions of dollars, cars, girls and a socialite life and that's all he wants at this point to live the life of an NBA player without having to play basketball.
I’m a Sixers fan: that was perfectly said!! Congratulations, you understand this bullshit lmfao!! Of course, you could be a Sixers (or Nets) fan yourself, in which case: no harm in repeating positive reinforcement, you said that PERFECTLY!!!
I think Simmons' greatest obstacle is not his injuries, or his shooting skills, but his mentality. He totally lost all motivation to play the game that he loved.
I think the scouting report out of lsu included his lack of motor. He was probably just tall as a kid and a freak athlete. You're right though, his attitude is definitely holding him back. He seems like the kinda guy to take the rest of his contract money and bail from the nba entirely.
they benched him in the most crucial time of the playoffs non stop trash talk from "experts" he's smart to just take the money and get himself kicked out of the league how much he made already 100 million? 200 million?
Can anyone really say Ben ever LOVED basketball?! If he actually did, he would have improved his game year in and year out. It seems more Ben was just blessed with insane height and skill set. You don’t back down from improving yourself and basically quit if you actually loved the game of basketball. Seems more like basketball was just a way to millions for Ben
The saying “hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard” could not be any truer for Ben Simmons. Dude has all the natural talent in the world to be a top 5 player RIGHT NOW in the NBA, yet he doesn’t want to work hard at all. Literally what Jokic is doing rn, that very well could be Ben Simmons plus his elite (or use to be) defense.
The MAIN issue about Ben for me isn't his lack of shooting, it's his attitude on dealing with the criticism and all the backlash he got after he messed up Game 7 vs the Hawks. Instead of motivating himself and taking in all the negativity and turning it into a positive to push himself to get better he instead pouted and deliberately did not want to play with the 76rs anymore. He should've at least given his all to improve his game (which he should since he's getting paid millions of dollars anyway). Instead of acting the way he did.
@@leonconnelly5303 well you’re obviously not a sixers fan in Philadelphia to think that, sixers fans were beyond patient and supportive of Ben, Philly fans always support their players unless you turn on us, the few idiot fans you see in videos after that last playoff game aren’t representative of how we felt at the time, everyone was pissed off because how we lost but we still felt good about where this team was going, it wasn’t until he came out and said he’d never play for the sixers again and making up shit about the team being built around embiid and not him, which is blatantly untrue, and then finally showing up to training camp and pulled that stunt, that’s when the city turned on him, all he had to do was put some work in in the off season and come back playing like we know he’s capable of and that playoff game is in the past, for a few years when there was always talk that the sixers should trade either simmons or embiid, we were all thinking if one has to go, trade embiid
@@mangobananana have you ever played sports? Do you even know what they said? After being asked what he thought the turning point in the game was, all embiid said was “I mean, I'll be honest, I thought the turning point was when we - I don't know how to say it - but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and then they came down and scored.” And when doc was asked if Ben Simmons could be the pg for a championship team, doc said “I don’t know the answer to that right now”, holy shit, this still blows my mind that people think this was so bad, and according to you that was low of them, are you shittin me, I don’t even know how this became an issue, all they did was tell the truth, in the softest way ever, you can’t Ben an athlete if you believe a professional athlete making 40$ million a year can’t receive even mild criticism from a teammate and coach, I’ve heard worse when I was literally 12 years old
@@mangobananana Man I'm so sick of the "threw him under the bus" narrative. Teammates and coaches spent years being patient with him, defending him against his critics and asking him to put in the work to improve his game and they paid him handsomely on the assumption he would actually do it and he repaid them by letting his game regress and turning his team into one of the jokes of the league. But no you're right Joel and Doc were the bad guys because he got held accountable for what might've been the first time ever
What really annoys me more than anything about him is that whenever he meets an obstacle in his game, be it his jump shot, his free throws, his mental toughness, he just seems utterly disinterested in fixing it.
I mean, if Andre Drummond manages to shoot over 50% from the line, everybody should be able to fix their shot. Heck, even DeAndre Jordan managed to get a few seasons of >60% (and even >70%) in.
Gotta give credit to the guy. He's played some very decent games for someone who doesn't have a spine. He cares about the money, the supercars, the flashy watches, more than he cares about training, practicing and doing what he's paid for.
Yeah, he cares about being seen with the Kardashian types and the lavish lifestyle. Philly told him to work on his jump shot for YEARS. He would practice them in workouts and the offseason, then refuse to shoot them in regular season games. It’s crazy. I remember players saying “Ben has been putting up 3’s and mid range shots in scrimmages and shoot arounds, he looks good”. Then the coach has to beg him to even attempt one in a game. He’s so mentally weak in a basketball sense it’s astounding. Even when Markelle Fultz got the Yips and forgot how to shoot, he still put shots up. 🤦♂️
The remarkable things is that Markelle Fultz is playing his career best. Most minutes, points, assists, starts, etc. He might not ever be an allstar but hey as least he contributes positively, played 60 games last season and costs half as much as Simmons.
Markelle also had to deal with so much more adversity with that horrible nerve injury, and yet he’s becoming a pretty good point guard on a playoff team!
I’d really wondered how he fizzled out. It came down to: -Defenses figuring him out -Not evolving his game -Couldn’t shoot, eating at his confidence -Defenses exploiting his bad free throw shooting, so he wouldn’t drive, destroying his confidence -Destroyed confidence creating bad mental health -Some injuries Despite all this, he could still be a decent role player, focusing on defense and passing, but he won’t make anywhere near the money or minutes he used to.
He is the definition of having all the talent, the skills and everything, but not loving the game bro is blessed and gifted for it. The game chose him but he didn't. 5'8 Isaiah Thomas. 6'3 skinny steph curry had a fraction of his skills in the beginning, but showed the love. Broo is a disappointment.
if he cant shoot hes not that talented. todays game needs shooting. ben simmons is a bust. plain and simple. he is not playing remotely close to his potential and hype. people need to stop hyping players up before they actually do anything. the point of pro sports isnt for athletes to get paid. its never been that.
His accountability is the worst part of this whole mess. He used the very serious issue that is gaining more and more awareness every day that is mental health as a shield from his flaws on the basketball court, and even after he was traded still had the audacity to sue the 76ers organization as if they owed him any of that money they withheld. Easily one of the worst #1 picks this century, I don’t give a fuck if he made 3 All Star teams or however many all defensive teams because he couldn’t even replicate half of that production in the playoffs. If he was even a fourth as productive in the playoffs as in his best years regular season wise then this bust talk would not be a discussion.
What if, What if... He was mentally ill and a week coach and a bad teammate threw him under the bus, we will never know because in our expert opinion he is clearly faking it. Reminder, it's ok to be mentally ill, just don't show any symptoms. Also, I do think that Simons is kind of a deuche.
@@VikCainnope he cant use mental issues as an excuse alot of star players have admitted to having mental issues but they still played their hearts out despite their mental illnesses so not a good excuse hes just done with basketball just wont admit it cuz of his lucrative contracts which he never deserved in the first place 🤦🏾🤦🏾
@@VikCain No one cares if you have mental health problems. We are not his family or friends. He is paid very, very well to do a job. I don't care if he's sad or has trauma, that's his own business. If he can't work through it then get out of the way and let a better man take your place.
They were tanking in general, just to get as much talent as possible, not just for him. And Hinkie got fired before that draft, so cant blame him, technically.
For me, the worst part about Ben is that he isn't like most busts who failed simply because their skills/talent didn't transfer to the NBA, what he had worked and made an impact worthy of his draft spot. From his scoring to his defense to his playmaking, it all worked but what he didn't have was a jumper and while that was a huge hole in his game that was something he could work on just like many other players have but he just didn't. He let that hole in his game continue to expand as opposing teams took advantage of it which led to his confidence diminishing, which then led to the things that he was good at also diminishing, and caused the current situation of him being a complete liability to any team he's on. It's a damn shame to see such talent go to waste.
I seen this video about 50 times. I swear every NBA youtuber made their own version of this but for some reason I keep clicking and watch them all lmao.
If only Ben Simmons had motivation, and didn’t get injuries he honestly could become an all-time player. His frame, his skill, and his overall ability to attack the basket could become really good
Honestly this has to be one of the biggest falls from grace I’ve ever seen. The Ben Simmons situation to me is like the Roy Hibbert situation, Ben got exposed for his lack of shooting and Roy got exposed for not guarding a big man that center or power forward that can shoot 3’s plus he was exposed after the rules of verticality changed before the 2014 playoffs
I followed him last season hoping to see a comeback and I thought there was a glimpse of a comeback. He scored and played well and helped the team put together a winning streak. His defense was solid. I think he was affected by Nets internal conflicts, he didn't fit in after Durant and Kyrie left, and then he suffered an injury.
He screwed up when he didn’t listed to Kobe’s advice, which was for him to get a jump shot, and when someone like Kobe says that, thats the one person who he should’ve taken seriously
A little correction, nobody really wanted him traded after the first series loss to Boston. The talk was really just that he was the weak spot in our lineup, because of his lack of jump shooting, and that if he can get that down, Ben and the team would be fine. Now, in the following years................
Ben Simmons has talent, skill and potential to become a top 25 great at the end of his career, but his mentality wasn’t strong. If your mentality is broken, even Jordan wouldn’t make shots.
Ben can only blame himself, and I’m saying that as not a Simmons hater, or fan; I’m indifferent about him, but his lack of motivation and lazy work ethic his the reason became who he became. The fans will ALWAYS point out flaws in ANYONE’S game. They said Giannis was too skinny and didn’t shoot enough 3’s to win a championship, so he hit the gym and proved them wrong. They said Jokic was too unathletic and out of shape, so he dominates the game by playing smarter. They said LeBron wasn’t a leader, so he took on a strong leadership roll and has won multiple titles. They said Kobe couldn’t win without Shaq, so he went out and won back to back titles. They said Curry was too small to dominate the game and his ankle concerns were too risky. He’s not a 4x NBA champion. These comments will always come, but what separates naturally talented players from all time greats like the ones I listed, is how they react to the criticism and flaws in their game.
I would've also included how the scouting reports that he doesn't take criticism well and how even after Kobe of all people said publicly that he needs to get a jump shot and he didn't listen, yeah Ben Simmons only wants to listen to himself when the whole world knows what he's weak at. It's not even just a lack of a jump shot that led to his demise but he also has no post game. That's another reason the Magic Johnson comparison was terrible. Magic Johnson had a great post game. Ben Simmons also wasn't a guy who you can rely on to play off of the ball. The lack of a jump shot is the main thing for sure but not the only thing.
Crazy how everything thats happened with him in the past two years has made everyone forget just how good he was his first couple years. Hes the NBA version of Carson Wentz lol
When I first saw Simmons he was a sophomore at Montverde and he took perimeter shots and had a nice looking release. I remember saying his jumper looks like a younger Derrick Coleman, just not with the same results. But at least he was taking them.
The Nets/Sixers swap was one of the most entertaining trades ever. That same night LeBron n KD were on the TNT show picking their All-Star team and Harden was picked last 🤣🤣🤣
I hope Wembanyama doesn't end up like him. He has a lot of similarities: tall kid, great all around basketball and a lot of hype to the point of guaranteed 1st overall pick. Although I think he will be okay since he has 2 things over Ben. He's a good shooter and he has drive to be excellent.
I feel like most rookies bulk up during the training camps and their first seasons, he looks kinda frail but I’m not rly worried, he seems to play a good mix of aggressive in the paint play and can shoot threes
I never believed the media when they said the Harden-Simmons trade was a "win-win" deal. Philly's about to lose Mr. Fat Suit in free agency since he wants to get a massive bag after taking a pay cut last year, while the Nets are still stuck with Simmons' max contract until it expires.
It is all about attitude. In a way this looks like the praise and fame he got early on got to his head, and a lack of work ethic and commitment didn't help. He got everything easy early so he never had a reason to challenge himself, and clearly he doesn't have a winning mentality. The other players mentioned, such as Giannis and O'Neal, had issues in their games bu had/have a desire to win no matter what. As such they were able to figure out how to play within their limitations, and during key moments in game also rise above them (hitting free throws under pressure or shooting a three without fear). Simmons, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any of that attitude or mentality and thus he never sought to be better and, in many ways, regressed as pressure increased. He doesn't seem to even understand that it is part of his job description to refine/improve his skills. A comparison I used this year was Sochan from the San Antonio Spurs. Sochan is a similar guy in that he is a tall guy playing a forward position, great defender, but with terrific ball handling and passing skills that allow him to play point too. And, much like Simmons, he entered the league not being a particularly good shooter, be it mid and long distance or free throws. However, unlike Simmons who only 'improved' in off-season videos shot with friends for his Instagram account, Sochan a), accepted the challenge, and b), accepted looking like a fool at first switching his free throw mechanics to one handed shots to get better. 8 years younger and the rookie was already making changes mid season, in front of cameras and crowds, and getting significantly better (his free throws went from something like 30% to 70% since the change). Even another (former) Spurs' player named Tim Duncan was able to have a long career because he was always open to changing preparation, conditioning, diets, and shooting/play mechanics, to adapt to aging and the wear and tear. All this to say that even with injuries or effects or injuries there are ways to adapt to play well. Simmons has consistently shown he doesn't care about the work part of his fame.
i think he needs like a heat team organization or someone that could give him something like a motivation, sheer focus and commitment to play BBall, fit and ready to play at given time and to motivate and work his ass off. So sad to see a generational talent turn to waste for not improving his game, if i where his brother i would hoop his ass period.
@Mark Anthony Medina Idk man. The Heat are brilliant at player development and could turn someone with Simmons' talents into an absolute force, sure. Just, you know, not actually Simmons himself. He would have to WANT it, he would have to WANT to improve. And from what I've seen, he seems to have absolutely no interest in putting in any kind of work at all. He likes the fame, hates actually doing the job. Why would anyone want anything to so with that? Eventually no one is gonna try anything with him and he's just gonna try to coast off this for the rest of his life.
@@NN-ge2wf i am just hoping that he will turn this slump around for the next upcoming season and proved them wrong, although i doubt he can overcome his personal problem easily, but we may never know, i just hate a talent being wasted
I think Doc was the worst possible coach for Simmons. Doc is notorious for making the players win the games and motivate themselves to figure out how to win. Aimmons needed a coach who was willing to push him instead of sitting back and letting him decode hos own fate.
he should be getting daily counseling if playing pro basketball after getting paids a gigantic contract causes him anxiety. other players dont have multiple years long yipps
I started watching NBA in 2021 when Ben was still a star at Philly, can't believe in 2 years of me watching NBA he has turned from star to the benchwarmer, that means he isn't even good enough as a role player. He might not be a bust but his attitude is surely worse than attitudes of other busts. It's just cruel that someone like Brandon Roy had to retire early because of injury, while this guy was healthy (before his drama) but decided to sleep on millions, instead of improving
I think he wants to get his team involve and get the spotlight away from him. He knows that in the post season he will be limited offensively like in philly but involving his teammates facilitating the offense it is going to be huge for the team come playoff time, and he can start being aggressive again on playoffs because when teams are not expecting him to based on his regular season play
Like Pat Bev said some people just don't love basketball. When he can just show up and get paid, while not working on the fundamentals of just shooting the ball. Hopefully he can get his mind in a good place and start working or he wont be in the NBA soon.
he actually had a back injury in the Atlanta series - hence his second halves - just saying - which the Sixers knew - p.s his defense was great but you can see how stiff he was after half time
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Ben fixed his issues early, they wouldn't be problems. There's nothing to say about mental health and injuries. Those are problems which have - and will continue in the future - plagued any big person. The biggest problem is that he isn't willing to get up and try. If he doesn't commit to the Boomers or at the very least, try and commit, it'll show he's done caring about basketball and will need to admit it to himself.
The most ludicrous part of the entire saga was him threatening to skip camp when he wasn't traded because his delusions did not allow him to see that no one wanted him. I would not be surprised if the mental illness aspect of the PA agreement comes under extreme attack when they next negotiate.
ben’s lack of motivation, especially when not being constantly praised, tells me that it’s very likely has ADHD, which explains why his engagement is very low and he seems disinterested once everyone turned on him. he needs to work on his mentality before working on his game. even if he never develops a jumper he should still be a borderline star level player in that aaron gordon/jerami grant tier of player.
Playoffs is the Litmus test for all NBA Star Players; it shows us if he is a legit superstar or a bust. Ben Simmons supposed to be a Superstar caliber Player; but his mentality and work ethics slow down his progression to unlock his potentials. He doesn't have a Simple Man mentality; "Just do it Now! Think later"
Even Westbrook is willing to shoot the jump shot Ben is missing 100% of the shot his scared to take he has so many other elements to his game that he still is an unstoppable force he let the media get to his head instead of just playing he can still be great surrounded with shooters.
Ben Simmons clearly has the all star level back early in his first seasons, he is just not exploiting it. Injuries and his jump shot aren't the main issues. He doesn't have the motivation, confidence to play in the NBA, scared to get fouled and shooting free throws and jump shots. He make up lies about coming back and shows us incredible things in summer break and then do terrible the whole season and somehow gets injured right before the playoffs and repeat. He want the NBA player lifestyle but doesn't want to be on the court, it could be coming a bit from the 76ers fanbase having some toxic tedencies toward their players when they do below average what the fans want but it is for sure mostly coming from Ben Simmons. Back a few years ago I used to really like this player but now it is really complicated to look at what he became and the things I enjoyed doing in NBA 2K23 was being able to bring him back to all star caliber in MyCareer and win him 2 champs in MyLeague but this is all fiction and wont do anything irl
This is the modern day version of Kwame Brown. I forgot which teammate it was, but someone said that during Brown's rookie season he asked how long he had to play before he could retire. Same mentality as Simmons.
The horrible coaching and culture in Philadelphia certainly didn't help. I feel like at some point he could have been recovered, maybe it still can happen, but men Philadelphia is an horrible organisation.
Ben is really a SF but lack the outside shot of a SF. He is what we call a tweener not strong enough to defend all power forward but his defensive skills are good enough to make up for a lot of things. He can only be effective on certain teams that can best utilize his talents.
6:01 Not only was that weak but also selfish for him to set his teammate up for failure instead of taking matters into his own hands as a star on his team.
Shanghai sharks starting lineup 2023: PG: Ben Simmons SG: Klay Thompson SF: Dillon Brooks PF: Julius Randle C: Deandre Ayton Coach: Mike Budenholzer Guandong southern tigers starting lineup 2023: PG: Jordan Poole SG: Kevin Huerter SF: Grant Williams PF: Harrison Barnes C: KAT Coach: Doc Rivers
