How Tall Is Ben Simmons: The point guard/forward for the Philadelphia 76ers is an Australian national. His team had him listed as 6ft 9.5″ prior to the NBA’s listing of 6’11” in 2021. Benjamin David Simmons (born July 20, 1996) is an Australian professional basketballer who currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He was named to the All-American first team, as well as the USBWA National Freshman of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American while at LSU. Simmons was taken in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft by the 76ers. After missing the previous season due to a right foot injury, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018. During that season, he was also selected to the NBA All-Star Game three times. Because of a contract disagreement with the 76ers, Simmons has become the best player in NBA history.
Simmons attended Box Hill Senior Secondary College in Melbourne, Victoria, before moving to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. LSU’s season began with great hopes, but the Tigers failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament in their freshman year. For the third time in the previous 11 years, a Melbourne native has been selected first overall in the NBA draught (after Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving). Simmons’ father, Dave Simmons, is an Australian-born professional basketball player. Simmons is a dual citizen of the United States and Australia who plays for the Australian national team.
The start of one’s life
Simmons was born in Melbourne’s Fitzroy neighborhood to parents Dave and Julie. His father is an African-American expatriate from the United States, while his mother is a white Australian naturalized citizen. He was raised by his mother’s second husband’s four children in addition to his mother’s four biological children (Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia). In 1989, his father joined the Melbourne Tigers as a professional basketball player after playing collegiate basketball in the United States.
Simmons lived in Newcastle with his father, who played and coached in the city since he was 18 months old. Simmons joined the Newcastle Hunters’ under-12 representative squad when he was seven years old, and went on to play two more seasons for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. While in Newcastle, he also played junior rugby league.
A University Education
When he was a freshman in college, the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team brought him on a four-stop national tour of Australia. On August 15th, Simmons made his LSU debut with an 89–75 victory over the Newcastle All-Stars in the opening game of LSU’s preseason tour to Australia. He led the Tigers to victory at the Newcastle Basketball Stadium, where his father had previously played professionally for the Falcons in the 1990s, with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Tigers went 3–2 to end off a great tour to Australia, with Simmons leading the team in scoring and rebounds per game, averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds per game.
When he returned to the United States, Simmons was featured on the 35th anniversary cover of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, was named SEC Preseason Player of the Year,[48], and was named to the Associated Press preseason All-America team. He became only the second freshman to win Preseason Player of the Year, following Kentucky’s Julius Randle in 2013, and the fourth freshman to make the All-America team.
Season 2021–22: The lone holdout for the 76ers
Simmons’ decision to pass up an easy dunk was the turning factor in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2021, according to Joel Embiid. “I don’t even know how I’m going to answer that,” Rivers said in response to a question about whether Simmons could play point guard for an NBA championship team. Simmons decided in August 2021, despite having four years left on his contract, that he no longer wanted to be a member of the club for these and other reasons.
He announced before the start of training camp that he was willing to miss it in order to make the move he desired. Meanwhile, the 76ers have been looking into trade options, but no agreement has yet been reached with any team. Joel Embiid’s play did not mesh well with Simmons’, and their time together had come to an end, according to Simmons and the rest of the team. Embiid’s public words in response to Simmons’ boycott and trade requests included calling the team management’s rosters built around Simmons “borderline… disrespectful.”
Simmons was unable to attend camp, as he previously announced. As a result, he was unable to participate in the preseason and had to sell his $3.1 million property in Philadelphia. [148] The 76ers withheld and put $8.25 million in escrow during his absence, which is over a quarter of the $31.59 million promised to him for the 2021–22 season. Simmons was welcomed back to the team by his old comrades on October 11th, 2021. After Rivers expelled Simmons from practice for refusing to engage in a drill many times, the 76ers suspended him for the season-opening against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 19.
Simmons has already been fined $1.4 million for skipping four preseason games, practices, on-court drills, and other meetings. Simmons’ fines were initially suspended after he said that his absence was due to a mental health condition, but they were reinstated after he failed to cooperate. Simmons was the most heavily fined player in NBA history, and it’s expected that his fines would exceed $10 million by the end of 2021. Simmons’ fine was decreased in January 2022 as a consequence of his attendance at team meetings and treatment sessions, although the 76ers continued to withhold money from his account for games missed.
Victory in the Intercontinental Cup
The junior national team
Despite his youth, Simmons led Australia to a silver medal at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship. One of Simmons’ tournament highlights was a 26-point, 10-rebound, 5-steal performance against the Czech Republic. After attending the Australian Boomers camp prior to the Sino-Australia Challenge, Simmons made his senior debut for Australia against New Zealand in the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship. He scored four points in the two games that followed, and he was a member of Australia’s gold-medal winning team.
Senior nationals for Team USA: In July of that year, Simmons was named to the U.S. Boomers’ extended team for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. His stint on the club was short-lived, as he was cut after failing to make the final 12-man roster. Simmons confirmed his plans to participate for Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, with a medal in mind. However, Simmons declined to join the Boomers in Rio in April 2016 in order to focus on his first season in the NBA. On May 15, Simmons announced that he would represent Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup as well as exhibition games against Canada and the United States.
Simmons’ decision to not play for the Australian national team in 2019 was based on “professional obligations.”Simmons stated in October 2017 that he planned to compete for Australia in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He decided to focus on strengthening his shooting ability for the 2021–22 season after withdrawing from the Australian Olympic team.
