Ben Simmons Biography
Benjamin David Simmons is an Australian professional basketball player who was born on July 20, 1996. He plays for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets (NBA). He played college basketball for one year with the LSU Tigers. After that, he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. Simmons was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers with the first pick in the 2016 NBA draft. After missing a year of basketball because of an injury to his right foot, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and went to the NBA All-Star Game three times. Simmons is the NBA player who has been fined the most. This is because he refused to play for the 76ers after the 2020–21 season. This led to him being traded to the Nets.
Simmons went to Box Hill Senior Secondary College in his hometown of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, before going to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, in the United States. LSU started his only season in college with high hopes, but they didn’t make it to the NCAA tournament. Simmons dropped out of school to enter the NBA draft. He was the third player from Melbourne to be picked first overall in 11 years, after Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving. Simmons’s father, Dave, was born in the United States but played pro basketball in Australia. Simmons has citizenship in both Australia and the US, and he has played for the Australian national team.
Profile
| Full Name | Benjamin David Simmons |
| Birth Date | 20 July 1996 |
| Birth Place | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Nick Name | Ben, Simmo |
| Religion | Christian |
| Nationality | Australian/American |
| Ethnicity | Mixed |
| Education | LSU |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Father’sName | Dave Simmons |
| Mother’sName | Julie |
| Siblings | Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia |
| Age | 26 Years Old |
| Height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Shoe Size | 14 (us) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Shirt Number | 25 |
| Build | Athlete |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Girlfriend | Kendal Jenner |
| Position | point guard/forward |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| Net Worth | $7.5 million |
| Salary | $10.5 million |
| Currently Plays for | Philadelphia 76ers |
| League | NBA |
| Active Since | 2016-present |
| Social Media | Facebook, Instagram, Twitter |
| Merch | Books, Jersey & Poster |
| Last Update | October, 2022 |
Early life
Simmons was born in the suburb of Fitzroy in Melbourne to parents named Dave and Julie. His father is an African-American who moved to Australia and became a citizen there. His mother is an Australian who is white. He grew up with five brothers and sisters: Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia. The first four were from his mother’s first marriage, and the fifth was from her second marriage. Before going pro with the Melbourne Tigers of Australia’s National Basketball League in 1989, his father played college basketball at Oklahoma City University in the United States.
Simmons grew up in Newcastle, where his father played and coached, from the time he was 18 months old. Simmons started playing basketball for the Newcastle Hunters under-12 representative team when he was seven years old. He played for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle for two more years after that. When he was in Newcastle, he also played rugby league at the junior level.
Simmons moved back to Melbourne when he was 10 and started playing junior basketball for the Knox Raiders. He also played Australian rules football at the junior level when he was younger. Simmons was named MVP in year 7 while he was at Whitefriars College. He helped Whitefriars win the Year-7 Division 1A Basketball premiership.
Simmons loved both basketball and Australian rules football when he was a teenager, but he chose to focus on basketball in the end.
Simmons played basketball for Box Hill Senior Secondary College in the 2011 Australian Schools Championships. He was 15 years old at the time. In 2012, he got a scholarship to study at the Australian Institute of Sport. Later that year, Simmons went to the well-known Pangos All-American Camp for basketball prospects. This was his first time in the United States. Even though he was only 15, he was chosen to play for Australia at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in 2012.
Ben Simmons | High School Career
Ben moved to the United States in 2013 so he could play with strong players who could challenge him.
He played for the Florida school Montverde Academy. He helped Montverde beat St. Benedict from New Jersey in the High School National Tournament, which they won.
Ben also played in the international Jordan Brand Classic Tournament. After that, he went to Australia to compete in the Big V for the Bullen Boomers. Every game, he put up 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks.
When he was a junior at Montverde, he helped his team get a score of 28-0, which helped them win another High School National Tournament.
Ben averaged 18.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game during the game.
He also had 88 blocks over the course of the season. He won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award because of how amazing he played. He was also called the best high school junior in America.
Later, he was also named MVP at the National Basketball Players’ Association Top 100 camp.
Simmons signed a National Letter of Intent on November 12, 2014, to play college basketball for Louisiana State University (LSU). He continued to play well for Louisiana the whole season.
Also, at the McDonald’s All-American Game, Ben became the starting quarterback for the east team. He was the second student from Florida to win the Morgan Wootten Award while in high school.
Ben was also named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and the Naismith Prep Player of the Year. With his help, Montverde won the High School National Tournament for the third time in a row.
ESPN gave the point guard for the 76ers five stars, making him the best player in the country.
Ben Simmons | College Career
Ben was a freshman when he played for the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team in the first of five games in Australia.
In the first game, he led the Tigers to a win over the Newcastle All-Stars. The Tigers were 3–2 after the first three games of their five-game tour of Australia.
After he got back to the United States, he was on the cover of the 35th anniversary edition of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
He was named SEC Preseason Player of the Year and was on the Associated Press preseason All-America team.
Ben kept getting better as a player, which led Magic Johnson, an NBA Hall of Famer, to call him the best all-around player since LeBron James.
All’s well that ends well, and Ben was also named to the First Team All-Southeastern Conference. He also led the 2016 SEC vote for Freshman of the Year.
Ben Simmons | Professional Career
Philadelphia 76ers (2016–present)
Simons skipped his last three years of college to enter the 2016 NBA draft. In the same week, he also made a deal with the sports agency Klutch Spots.
A media analyst asked him about his behavior before he was picked for the NBA, but Bett Brown shot down the claims.
Brown was a family friend and was the coach for Philadelphia. Soon after, Ben was picked by Philadelphia with the first pick in the 2016 draft.
He joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League after signing a rookie contract with the 76ers.
Ben didn’t do all that well in the first three games. In spite of this, he got all the praise. He was named to the first team of the All-Las Vegas Summer League.
The 76ers player hurt his right ankle and rolled it during the practice. Later, he got an x-ray and an MRI, which showed that his right foot was broken. He was let go for the 2016–17 season because he didn’t seem to be getting better.
During the 2017-18 NBA season, the player made a great comeback. He was thought to be the third rookie player to get 1000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists all in his first season.
Ben was named Rookie of the Month for the Eastern Conference in February, March, and April. In April, he was also named Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference.
The basketball player was also named Rookie of the Year and put on the All-Rookie First Team by the NBA.
Soon, he started training with his brother and coach, Liam Tribe-Simmons, and became the second NBA player to score 2,000 points, get 1,000 rebounds, and give out 1,000 assists.
Ben was the first Aussie to be chosen as an All-Star reserve for the Eastern Conference.
National Team Career
He was asked to play for the national team because of how happy he used to be. At the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, he played for Australia even though he was only 15 years old.
At the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship, he played for the senior team, which won Gold. Ben has also said what he thinks about playing in the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Personal life
Simmons’ brother Liam quit his job as an assistant coach at the University of California, Riverside, in the summer of 2018 so he could help Simmons improve his shooting. Not everyone agreed with his decision to hire his brother as his shooting coach. His sister Emily was on the women’s rowing team at Washington State University. Since 2014, she has worked for Klutch Sports, and she is married to Michael Bush, who used to play for the NFL. David Patrick, his godfather, was an assistant coach at LSU for his only year there. He is now the head coach at UC Riverside. Simmons’ cousin, who went to the 2016 NBA draft, was killed in a hit-and-run in New Jersey on June 25, 2016.
Simmons was in the Showtime documentary One & Done, which came out in November 2016. It was about his time as a “one-and-done” college player and what he and his family thought about the NCAA and NBA’s “one and done” rule. Simmons signed an endorsement deal with Nike on June 7, 2016. [188] Simmons is a fan of the Essendon Football Club, which is a team in the Australian Football League that plays Australian rules football.
Simmons backed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president of the United States in the 2020 election on October 3, 2020. Simmons reportedly got engaged to British TV star Maya Jama over the Christmas holiday in 2021. According to reports, the couple broke up in August 2022.
Ben Simmons | Net Worth and Salary
When it comes to his salary, there is only a slow and steady rise. As a rookie, he used to make $6.4 million in 2018-19, which went up to $8.1 million in 2019-20 and $10.5 million in 2020-21.
Endorsements And Other Ventures
Simmons gave a look at his time as a “one-and-done” college player in the Showtime documentary One & Done.
Simmons has signed a $20 million deal to be a Nike spokesman. Also, he recently announced that he is supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president of the United States in 2020.
He also cheers for the Essendon Bombers in the Australian Football League and works with @kelloggsfrostedflakes and Tony the Tiger in a paid partnership to help spread the word about #MissionTiger. Ben has also worked on a project called “Do more to end racism.”
Ben Simmons | Social Media Presence
To all the BEN fans, there is nothing to worry about. We can easily catch him on his Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook profiles. He stays abundantly available there.
He keeps posting about his family, friends, tournament, lavish lifestyle, tours, and adventures that he opts for.
Facebook- @ben.simmons.025 and has 497,559 followers.
Twitter- @BenSimmons25 and has 982.9k followers.
Instagram-@bensimmons and has 5.3m followers.
