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Do Not Let Ben Simmons Rewrite History
By Sean Barnard
Published:
It’s been quite a bit of time since Ben Simmons has been relevant in the national sports discourse.
He last suited up for an NBA game on April 29th, 2025, in which he tallied zero points, zero assists, and one rebound across 4:42 of game action with the Los Angeles Clippers. Simmons spent last season in the professional fishing world as the controlling owner of the South Florida Sails, in which he managed to win a championship.
But Simmons is attempting an NBA comeback, inking a non-guaranteed contract with the Sacramento Kings, under which he will earn $1 million if he makes the team in training camp and up to $3.5 million if things play out as the two-time All-Defensive team member hopes. But in his time away from basketball, Simmons had some time to tell his story in an upcoming E60 documentary titled Being Ben, which is set to premiere on October 18th:
I’ll be honest, my reaction to seeing this surprised even me. For the most part, Ben Simmons has been out of sight, out of mind. The hatred for Simmons was real following his decision to hold out of the Sixers’ training camp to force a trade after the 2020-21 season. But since this point, he has been a non-factor by NBA standards.
Simmons has played 108 total NBA games in the six seasons since he elected to begin his holdout. He has posted measly averages of 5.9 points, 5.8 assists, and 5.8 rebounds across just 23.9 minutes per game when he has been on the floor. The hatred for the now 30-year-old reached a point where it felt over the top. Watching Simmons’ career unfold was like when you hit a deer with your car, and you watch it limp into the woods to die. Frankly, signing a non-guaranteed contract on the Sacramento Kings feels like an apt comparison for this.
But this one minute and seven second clip in which Simmons’ same California cool attitude and smug smile were put on display sent emotions that have not been there in years about the former Rookie of the Year.
It is a common saying that not all athletes are made to play in Philadelphia. There are guys that get it and guys that don’t. Ben Simmons has always been one of the biggest examples of the latter.
There are two things that will always earn you favor in the eyes of the general Philadelphia fan base that have zero to do with the results or your actual play- effort and accountability.
This is not to say that Simmons didn’t give effort. You do not make it to the NBA without putting some level of commitment into your craft, and it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the success that he did have in the league. Simmons was Rookie of the Year, a three-time All-Star, made the All-Defensive team twice, an All-NBA team once, and posted averages of 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 7.7 assists of his career at the peak of his production.
But he plateaued, and completely by his own doing.
You can call it stubbornness, you can call it arrogance, you can call it complacency, you can say it was a guy who lost the battle with his own brain from an on-court perspective. But the reality is he saw his scoring, assists, and field goal attempt numbers regress for three consecutive years starting in 2018-19 until he elected to hold out with four seasons of the five-year $170 million max extension that were remaining on his contract. He even took the Sixers to court to fight for the money that was lost for voluntarily stepping away from the team he was contractually mandated to play for.
Business aside, it’s the failure to reach his potential that should burn a fire in the hearts of any basketball fan. This was a guy who had Hall of Fame potential and a clear path to getting there, only to be out of the league when he should be in the prime of his career. Simmons was labeled the next LeBron James, only for the real LeBron to be suiting up for the 76ers while he scraps for a roster spot on a team that went 22-60 last year. He carried himself with an arrogance that he knew best, and there was no need to improve, only for the sport of basketball to evolve past him.
It’s not just the pure fact of failing to live up to potential that earned Simmons a place on the all-time villain list in Philadelphia. Just one season after Simmons was drafted, Markelle Fultz was selected with the first overall pick in the draft. From the second he first wore a Sixers’ jersey, it was clear that Fultz was not the same guy that flashed as one of the most talented three-level scorers in recent college basketball history. But the Washington product was a good kid who gave you everything he had, largely took it on the chin, but just very clearly did not have it physically, and his play suffered because of it. You will not find Fultz’s name getting trashed in Philadelphia corner bars and living room the way that is the case with Simmons.
It’s also wildly inaccurate that the seeming national perception is that the Philadelphia fan base chased Simmons out of town. If anything, Philadelphia fans showed more patience with Simmons than just about any other player in recent memory. We had people doing mental gymnastics, talking themselves into the idea that Simmons did not even need to shoot the basketball to impact winning at a high level. There were legitimate debates about whether it would be smarter to build around Joel Embiid or Simmons, even as his unwillingness to shoot the ball continued to clog up the floor for the player who eventually earned an NBA MVP. It will be forever puzzling why he dug his heels in on avoiding what is objectively the most fun part of the sport of basketball. Simmons has attempted 36 total three-pointers, and his driving to the basket with the clear intention to pass became increasingly problematic for the team. Simmons’ clear fear to get to the free throw line largely became the nail in the coffin.
This is not to say the Sixers are completely blameless in how they handled Simmons’ career. It’s fair to critique that Doc Rivers should not have replied, “I don’t know the answer to that,” when asked if Simmons could be a championship point guard following the collapse at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Rivers also is not a guy that has ever been particularly fond of accountability. The Sixers also failed Simmons, in addition to Embiid, on providing the proper infrastructure in the early stages of his career.
Maybe this documentary will be Simmons actually turning over a new leaf and accepting responsibility for his direct role in his career falling completely apart. Maybe this is him finding peace in the wasted opportunity at a Hall of Fame career as a focal point of the league. But there is nothing in Simmons’ history to suggest this is the case, and it feels fair to brace for finger pointing at every person but the guys that Simmons sees when he looks in the mirror. This has been his mindset through life to this point.
The old saying goes that there are three sides to every story; one person’s side, the other person’s side, and the truth. What is Ben Simmons’ truth is not necessarily what happened, and that should be made clear before he attempts to put his public spin on his self-inflicted career suicide. I might tune in out of curiosity, but Ben Simmons, I still hate you.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.