Ben Simmons was the cover athlete for the magazine ‘Esquire‘, where he got candid about his career in the main interview. Simmons openly expressed his desire to return to the All-Star game and possibly even surpass his play from a few seasons ago.
“And then individually, I want to be back where I was. I want to be an All-Star. I want to be better than an All-Star. That’s where I want to be. I never try to live with myself. I’m never like, Well, hopefully, maybe I get a couple of votes in an All-Star game. Nah, if that’s the case, I might as well be fishing.”
Simmons went from averaging 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists in his last full regular season in the 2020/21 season which ended with playoff disaster for Simmons and the 76ers. He averaged 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists last season but could play just 42 games after sitting out the 2021/22 season.
After two years of constant ridicule, Simmons is hoping to make this season the year he rediscovers his form.
Ben Simmons Has Been Seriously Injured For The Last Few Seasons
Ben Simmons got really in-depth in this Esquire interview, particularly discussing the rotten luck with injuries he’s had in the last few seasons. Simmons says he couldn’t even walk or sit without pain.
“This is what people don’t know. I was struggling with walking and little things like going upstairs. I had pain in my knee and in my back just sitting down in cars. The smallest things to me that seemed normal were such a struggle… To be able to stand up right after this interview and go walk around is a blessing for me.”
The contact pain caused Simmons to lose all his confidence in his own body, which has to be a very tough thing to reckon with as an NBA player.
“When I was out there knowing I wasn’t healthy, I wasn’t confident in my body at all. When you’re getting hit, you’re getting pushed, and you can’t turn certain ways, you’re not even really thinking about the basketball game. You’re more thinking about what I can do and how I have to move instead of allowing your body to just go. That’s the toughest part for me because when I’m on the court, I just want to be able to go. I don’t want to be thinking, Can I step this way? Can I step that way? Can I change the direction? Nah. I’m like, Sh*t, let’s go hit somebody. Let’s go get a rebound. Let’s go do these things that I’m naturally able to do.”
Simmons has made it clear that he’s trying his best to work on the things that bother him, detailing the perseverance with which he conducted his summer workouts, even though he couldn’t run or jump.
“And that’s what I’ve been doing all summer. The first month I wasn’t jumping or running. So that was frustrating. I’m going to the gym every day, not being able to jump or run. And that’s just the process of it. I’m very understanding of what it takes and what I have in front of me and I have the right team around me that keeps it entertaining.”
From what we have seen so far in preseason, Simmons clearly has a lot of talent to unlock. The Nets have looked good with him running the point for the franchise right now, but it’ll be interesting to see that stick over the course of a season.
Many of his teammates have said that he’s the star of the team, it’s just a question of Ben living up to that now.
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