Sixers

Ben Simmons Shoots a Three Pointer in Practice, Therefore Confirming NBA Title

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 15th, 2020 · 10:35 AM EDT

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Get excited!

I hope you’re ready, because NBA practice clips have returned. We’re gonna see Markelle Fultz shooting a foul shot and Robert Covington hitting 17-straight corner threes. Then, Twitter is going to go absolutely bonkers when Ben Simmons takes a wide-open, uncontested three pointer and finds nothing but net:

https://twitter.com/darealjlaw/status/1283212485223485440?s=20

Remember how big of a topic it was this year, the three ball? The Wells Fargo Center roof almost blew off and landed in the Jetro Lot after Ben knocked one down against the Guangzhou Loong Lions in the preseason. Then we had breaking news red alert DEFCON 1 when he swished a corner jawn against the Knicks a few weeks later, in a real game. He later hit a third three in a December home game against the Cavs and is now 2-6 on the season.

That’s it, 2-6, the other four of which I’m pretty sure were late shot-clock heaves that really shouldn’t count. He stopped shooting the three pointer entirely after the Cleveland game and focused on the other parts of his already-elite game, and the topic died off completely after some late-2019 hope.

As far as I can tell, after a brief Googling, the last quote about Ben’s shot took place in February, before the postponement, when Elton Brand spoke to media prior to the Memphis game.

Here’s the exchange:

Crossing Broad: If you watched Giannis last night, he goes out and air balls his first three, then scores 36 points anyway. Ben isn’t even attempting those shots at this point. Are you okay with where his jump shot is, or does it need to be further along at this point?

Brand: It’s gonna be a thing. He’s seeing how defenses are playing him, and he’s gonna have that growth moment. I think he’s gonna look back and say, ‘hey, I should have been doing this a long time ago.’

Crossing Broad: If you look at the threes he’s taken this year, they’ve looked pretty good.

Brand: As a point guard, a person with the ball, he wants to make the best play every time. The highest percentage play. That’s just the way he’s motored. That’s the way his motor works.

And that’s all good, but sometimes “the best play” is going to be shooting the open shot. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to see what an off-ball Simmons+Shake Milton lineup looks like, and whether it results in Ben shooting some threes.