Biography And Basketball Career Of Ben Simmons

From being one of the hottest Australian prospects, Ben Simmons has grown to one of the fastest rising stars in the league. Since his high school days, the NBA star has accumulated an impressive résumé that makes him a threat and a force to reckon with on the court. A talented forward and a trailblazer Simmons has a strong family support system that can only guarantee him a long and fruitful career.

Here are interesting facts you should know about the 6-foot-10, 230-pounder who plays for the Sixers. Bio The Australian basketball player was born Benjamin David Simmons on 20th July 1996, in Melbourne, Victoria. Raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, Ben began playing rugby and basketball from age seven. He played Australian rules football at junior level, rugby with the junior league and basketball with the Newcastle Hunters under-12 team. Though Simmons won several awards for his outstanding performances in these sports, he eventually decided to pursue basketball professionally. Ben Simmons attended BoxHill Senior Secondary School in Melbourne and Montverde Academy in Florida. After a deocrated high school career, he proceeded to play college basketball at Louisiana State University (LSU) for one season. Simmons made his college debut in LSU’s season opener on 13 November 2015. He was subsequently drafted into the NBA in the year 2016 as the first overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. Injury and Career Stats After only one year with the LSU Tigers, Simmons decided to forgo his college career and declare for the NBA. His golden chance came on the 23rd of June 2016 which marked the beginning of his professional basketball career.

However, three months after being drafted into the NBA by the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben suffered an injury, a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone of his right foot which was estimated to cost him three to four months off the court. Simmons recovery from the broken foot however took longer than expected making him miss an entire season. Nonetheless, he bounced back thereafter, looking great and dominating the court in his rookie season. A unique player with stellar qualities, Ben made such a great comeback that he was named the 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year. The Australian star also played for his country's national team. He helped them to a silver win at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, and a golden victory at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship. Family - Parents, Sister, Brother Ben Simmons is the son of Dave and Julie Simmons. He is of mixed ethnicity as his father is an African-American and his mom is Australian. Though born in the US, Ben's father who was also a pro-basketballer relocated to Australia in pursuit of his career. It was while playing for the Australian National Basketball League that Dave met his future wife, Julie who was at the time, an aerobics instructor and one of the cheerleaders for the basketball team. Despite Julie already having four children, the couple went on to raise a relatively large family together. Ben's four half-siblings are Melissa, Sean, Emily, and Liam. He shares the same father with his sister Olivia (Liv). Ben Simmons and parents image source Ben is not the only sibling with an athletic gene as one of his brothers Liam was a coach for the Nicholls State Colonels men's basketball team and his sister Emily was a part of West Virginia University women's rowing team.

More so, Emily is married to former NFL running back Michael Bush. Ben's brother Sean is his roommate, protector and even spokesman who helps him manage his life outside the court. Sean was of immense help to Ben during recovery from an injury in 2016. Ben's family has been a great support system in his career journey. The NBA star has often admitted that their constant presence on the court has been of immense help and a major boost to his success story. Interestingly, Ben’s parents live just one street away from him in Philadelphia and he credits his mother for keeping the family together and happy. Away from the court and the lights, the Sixers star appreciates his mum, now a retired executive assistant whom he describes as a typical Aussie mum, for holding everybody together and also keeping him grounded in spite of his new NBA star status.a