This may be the end of the road for three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons. According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the former lottery pick is considering walking away from the game despite having two contract offers on the table.
“Ben Simmons has generated interest from the Knicks and another team but is also questioning whether he even wants to continue playing in the NBA next season,” wrote Bondy.
Simmons’ career has been a strange and somewhat tragic story. After a standout freshman season at LSU, he was drafted first overall by the 76ers in 2016. Due to his size, playmaking abilities, and all-around game, Simmons was drawing comparisons to LeBron James early on, and he was living up to the hype.
Despite missing the 2016-17 campaign, he returned the following season to win Rookie of the Year, and he quickly rose to prominence as a featured member of the Sixers. From 2018 to 2021, Simmons was a three-time All-Star with averages of 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game on 56.6% shooting.
It was during the 2021 playoffs that everything changed for Simmons. In Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Hawks, Simmons inexplicably passed up a wide-open layup that earned scrutiny from both the fans and his own Philly teammates. Besides being a sign of Ben’s waning confidence, it completely decimated his relationship with the team, and he refused to play for them again after that, going so far as to sit out the entire 2021-22 campaign.
By the time he returned to action as a member of the Nets, he was a shell of his former self. In his first season in Brooklyn, he averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game. Of course, he cited back troubles and mental health struggles as the reason for his decline and promised to return to form, but he has shown little improvement over the past three years.
In the 2024-25 campaign, he was down to 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game in just 16.4 minutes (career-low). He entered free agency this summer, and the word is that the Knicks are one of two teams that have offered him a deal.
If he wanted one more chance to find a new NBA home, the Knicks would make a viable option for him as a high-market team that’s stacked with talent. He would face some pressure there, but the Knicks wouldn’t be leaning on his performance like the 76ers did during his prime.
At this point, only Simmons knows what he’s thinking and which way he’s leaning, but it’s far from the ending that anyone imagined for him. If he does retire, his career will instantly be recognized as one of the most tragic in NBA history, given his status as a former first overall pick.
Had things unfolded differently in Philadelphia, or had Simmons managed to stay healthy both mentally and physically, he might still have years ahead of him at just 29. But now, with training camp approaching, Simmons is at a crossroads as he questions his desire to ever suit up for the NBA again.
