r/nba • u/PianoJealous307 • 13h ago
Ben Simmons "Taking the year off was the best thing I've done in my career. I took a year away from the game and I didn't watch a game until the playoffs. Not 1 game. I didn't pick up a ball until the start of summer and that was on purpose. I needed to get my body right and that was the main thing"
Sacramento Kings guard-forward Ben Simmons says stepping away from basketball for an entire year was the best decision of his 10-year professional career.
"I needed to get away from the game. I needed to get my back right to be able to play this game at a high level," Simmons told NBC Sports. "I think the one thing people kept saying to me was, 'It's going to be hard to get back.'
"I was fine with that, but I also know what I'm able to give the game. Taking that year off was the best thing I've done in my career."
Simmons, 30, did not merely stop playing NBA games during his break. He also deliberately removed basketball from his daily life.
"I took that year away from the game, and I didn't watch a game until the playoffs. Not one game," Simmons said. "I didn't pick up a ball until the start of summer, and that was on purpose.
"I needed to get my body right, and that was the main thing," he added. "I was never worried about the basketball aspect. It was more so, am I able to compete? Can I play at a high level still?
Watching the playoffs eventually helped provide that answer.
"I just felt like I belong here," Simmons said. "That was the main thing. It wasn't about anybody else, but I was just like, 'I can do this. I can compete at this level. I'm ready.'
"I'm healthy. I'm ready to go. I'm excited," he continued. "I've taken a few hits already in practice, and it felt great. I feel great."
The Kings ultimately signed him after the Knicks, Timberwolves, and Warriors reportedly showed interest but did not make offers.
Source: https://basketnews.com/news-257475-ben-simmons-reveals-drastic-decision-before-nba-return.html
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u/theinternetisnice Jazz 13h ago
Low risk situation. What’s the worst that happens, at the end of the season people say “same old Simmons, same old Kings.”
Or. Or! Best case scenario Sacramento meets Philadelphia in the finals and sweeps them and he literally shakes his penis at the crowd.
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u/Bitter-Affect909 Kings 13h ago
Thanks for putting the image in my head of Ben jumping up on the scorers table and just helicopter-ing his junk.
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u/Slow-Relation-9186 13h ago
Or using it like a fishing rod reeling in the trophy 🎣🏆
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u/_SpyriusDroid_ Kings 12h ago
If this happens, I will get a Kings theme tattoo of Ben Simmons’s dick.
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u/SquimJim Celtics 13h ago
Ew no thank you. That grosses me out. 6ers in the Finals?!?!? Bleh
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u/mountjo 76ers 13h ago
Even in the situation where a dick gets shaken at us you can't let us have it
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u/1shmeckle Knicks 12h ago
If this actually happens, then Kings fans will all start to shake their dicks at you even in the regular season.
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u/FunWolverine5349 10h ago
That's what makes those Northeast rivalries so good. None of this "we're rivals but we want each other to succeed" nonsense you see from other teams. No, it's "eat a dick, hope you lose every game" and "fuck you, suck it".
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u/SquimJim Celtics 12h ago
You took Jaylen from me
I hope the only penises that shake in your face are in the 2nd Round. Not even Conference Finals penises
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u/Salty_Pancakes Warriors 10h ago
He's like Miles Davis after his fusion phase in 1975 when he just stopped playing trumpet or doing anything music related and just did a bunch of coke for 5 years. And then came back in the 80s fresh and ready to go.
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u/ChemBro93 Raptors 7h ago
Great plan aside from the assumption Philly makes it out of the 2nd round.
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u/SeoneAsa 8h ago
With what talent even with the best case scenario? Spurs and thunder apparently taking a year off based on this guy.
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u/redpancab Lakers 13h ago
People here also don’t watch until the playoffs.
Maybe we’re not so different after all
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u/HoBaggyPants 10h ago
Most of us just watch the highlights. I don't even got the attention span to finish this sen
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u/DassemUltorTheSword 13h ago
There's an alternative universe where Ben dunks on Tray without passing, sixers win the championship. Lebron doesn't end up there because he chose a team this year specifically to bring a championship. Lebron is still alive in 2028 since his helicopter crash never happens.
Only if Ben doesn't make that pass
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u/boringexplanation Kings 11h ago
If only he made that dunk, he would’ve never got back injuries after. Such a shame
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u/Spreefor3 Warriors 13h ago
I thought you meant Kobe and accidentally wrote LeBron, but I see what you did there.
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u/Evilfart123 76ers 13h ago
People will poke fun at him and call him lazy but the dude genuinely worked his ass off on the court when he was with the Sixers before his injury. Dude felt like an iron man for us while putting in the work on defense and being the main ball handler on offense with crazy minutes as well.
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u/MysteriousPrize8418 76ers 13h ago
For real. Ben’s conditioning at his size was so impressive. He never seemed tired, never dogged it, always had the wind in his lungs to go all out no matter how much he played. And he did this while playing some of the best defense you can ask for. I’ll always root for him.
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u/JebBush333 13h ago
Yea the idea that Ben's massive drop in production was purely due to his mentality was always ridiculous, those back injuries changed his physicality so much.
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u/The_prawn_king Wizards 13h ago
Exactly he was elite because he moved so well and quick for someone that size. Once his back was cooked he lost all of what made him special.
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u/skj999 Heat 13h ago
Most of the people here probably do close to zero physical activity, so they definitely have never experienced even a minor back injury.
Anyone who has wouldn’t be so dismissive of how badly it’ll impact you.
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u/SeizureMode Pistons 13h ago
Hey, clapping at the TV takes a lot outta me
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u/whythehellknot 3h ago
I've thrown my back out getting up from the toilet. I know exactly what professional athlete Ben Simmons has endured.
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u/MostlyMellow123 Kings 13h ago
Yeah even a small muscle pull from reaching down makes you not want to move for a few days. Your body screams at you to not move
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u/mandudeguyposter 12h ago
back surgeries + someone considered a close friend dying = insane mental + physical toll
and I am sure the mental health advocates of r/nba will learn that soon
btw, same people making fun of ben simmons are the same ones getting offended when nba players shoot back at fans for tlaking shit
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u/Krillin113 76ers 13h ago
My thesis has been since it happened that they’re related. Unstable mind, more stress on the body, don’t recover as well, more injuries, less comfortable in your body, more instability in your mind etc etc
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u/OhEYoung 13h ago
Crazy how people feel so comfortable calling athletes mentally unstable without ever knowing them. Saying his mental status led to a serious back injury is an insane leap.
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u/rorank Rockets 10h ago
Ben Simmons has been very open about his mental health struggles, it’s not crazy at all lmao
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u/deemerritt Hornets 13h ago
Yea you don't end up second in dpoy by not playing hard
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u/indoninjah 76ers 10h ago
Yeah this is what always irks me when people say he solely regressed as a player. On offense, in terms of shot selection... yes. But he went from a question mark on defense and fear of being lazy coming out of LSU, to becoming one of the best conditioned players in the league and genuinely elite on defense.
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u/hugekitten Knicks 13h ago
Did everything for the Sixers?! I’m sorry but that’s insane.
The guy literally quit on the team and refused to play for months because he was beefing with teammates, coaches and the FO. He up to practice and acted like a jerkoff, there is video of it.
Had no problem sitting out games as he was dating Kardashians and partying with models every night while his team got worked, yet once the Sixers finally had enough and started hitting him in the pockets he suddenly has mental health issues.
Anyone who has followed Ben Simmons from LSU knows he has an absolute dogshit reputation as a person, forget player (even before he stepped onto an NBA court) It’s insane how people still find ways to make excuses for this guy when he is clearly a privileged / entitled diva.
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u/ObiOneKenobae Knicks 13h ago
And for all the "spacing" complaints with his jumpshot, I feel like Simmons is a good enough passer that he normally bullshitted his way to getting someone open anyway. He was a special player.
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u/TheBrazilianKD 13h ago
You know who else stepped away from basketball at the age of 30 and came back pretty good?
Michael Jeffrey Jordan
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u/NoRecord3000 Rockets 13h ago
Nothing like coming back to a team that won a few less game without you
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u/scoobyisnatedogg Warriors 7h ago
Pulled something in my lower back last month and it was constant agony just to keep myself upright for a couple weeks. Some of you won't understand this until you get a few more years on your shoulders, but life comes at you fast and you never know if/when you'll receive an injury that totally changes your day-to-day. Everyone's invincible until they aren't.
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u/Lizpy6688 Rockets 6h ago
I've torn my ACL and meniscus, that shit hurt like hell and took a bit to recover from but was doable
Last year I got a double fuck you from my body when I pulled my back and then had piraformis syndrome(think sciatica)
Couldn't stand much, had to sit weird just to alleviate some of the pain. Couldn't even sleep normal. Fuck that shit
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u/Sensitive-Pool-7563 4h ago
Why are you comparing your injury to an NBA superstar lol
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u/icorrectstupidpeople 2h ago
Because he’s simple minded and can’t comprehend that other people have different life experiences than him hahahah
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u/heyguysitsmedic Celtics 2h ago
Agree. Pulled a lower back muscle working out and I was essentially paralyzed for a day. You have no idea how absolutely terrifying it is to not be able to roll over and get out of bed. And that kind of pain is just... Different. Some pain is like hot and fast and sharp. This was like your brain saying "this is wrong". It's unnerving.
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u/Snooty_Folgers_230 6h ago
Yeah he had a back injury and during that infamous playoff run he had a nasty public family court case going on. Most people would not manage it well. Few people bring up his awful family situation.
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u/sourpatchkid199 Bulls 13h ago
Nothing helps refresh a young socialite like a gap year
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u/Evilfart123 76ers 13h ago
Shit, Jordan did it
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u/iButtflap Hornets 13h ago
jordan didn’t want to. his back injury was being a degenerate gambler
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u/Medium_Spend_6732 Raptors 10h ago
“I love this game for real this time btw didn’t even look at a basketball for a year”
that’s it I believe him this time
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u/retrospects Lakers 13h ago
I’m rooting for him. He prioritized his mental health and I respect that.
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u/RemarkableCulture948 Timberwolves 13h ago
I get frustrated when I see people constantly shit talk Ben Simmons. It's evident to me that some people who like to cast stones have never dealt with something as serious as a back injury. Shit is extremely painful and completely messes with your mental.
I hope the best for him.
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u/SeoneAsa 7h ago
Yeah.. it's was back pain all along. Only thing that's keeping LeBron 2.0 tied to a leash and unable to develop as an offensive threat. That damn back pain ruined his elite level potential. What a shame.
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u/FatCatWithAHat1 12h ago
Dude was one of the best PGs in the league and people act like he was a bum because he couldn’t shoot. Low iq takes don’t realize how important and good he was; but his game was build off his size and extreme athleticism…which was taken away from his back. Hoping the best for Ben
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u/OutlandishnessShot87 10h ago edited 10h ago
People think he's a bum because he never attempted to shoot even after his head coach publicly asked him to start shooting
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u/grundlesmith 76ers 3h ago
Ben Simmons will play well until there is pressure. He will take shots until the other team blocks one, and then he will have 1fga the rest of the game. He will average a triple double vs the Hornets, and then vanish when the game is close vs a top team. He will dominate preseason, and then remind everyone why he's on the Kings after a spring break gap year fishing expedition.
Ben's best moments as a Sixer were 99% on defense, he made a couple of game winning defensive plays. There are so many ways he could have been a useful NBA player even without improving his skill any further. If he would screen and roll to the basket. If he would shoot wide open corner 3's. If he would embrace small-ball center. If he could find a way to have any value at all off-ball on offense. But to this day, he will not let go of being the same old high usage guy that wants to be floor general, right up until things get hard. I have been baited by this man so many times. Wake me up when he has a good playoff series
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u/Loud_Examination_138 13h ago
All I know is I wish I had the amount of money he has by age 30. Either way his life is taken care of and he can try his comeback.
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u/TTUSpurs_fan Spurs 11h ago
I know he’s the butt of every joke but I really hope he can get back to who he was or at least close to who he was.
I think the NBA is better with Ben Ballin
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u/carnivoross Warriors 6h ago
Why we acting like he's suddenly good? He can't shoot, is afraid of contact and can't run anything in the half court.
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u/Drey5000 Suns 2h ago
Idk I need some clips of him draining some 3s in a random high school gym to really be convinced
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u/HealthyBuddy2944 13h ago edited 13h ago
"After not improving his skills at all since entering the NBA, Ben Simmons decided to continue not improving his skills for a whole extra year"
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u/GarageFridgeSoda 13h ago
"I love this game" - man who did everything in his power to not play, think about, or perform the game for a year
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u/Evilfart123 76ers 13h ago
Sometimes you just need a break, both physically and mentally.
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u/HelpOpening4996 13h ago
Hey Jordan did that, and Ben Simmons is just as clutch and driven as him
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u/FrankFontaine25 8h ago
It’s really difficult for some people to grasp what “mental health” is, huh?
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u/GarageFridgeSoda 7h ago
The only health he's mentioning is his back. I don't doubt his mentals were messed up too but he's not saying "I needed time away because my own self-expectations coupled with twitter dicks put me in a bad head space about the game I re-kindled my love for". He's saying I needed to not even watch basketball for a year because my back hurt.
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u/Jing-Ao Lakers 13h ago
This is such BS. I know people that are extremely passionate about their work but have been through mental burn out. When you're in a bad mental space, you lose interest in things you usually love
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u/Wavepops 13h ago
His body was broken, I could see why it was that frustrating for him
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u/Prior_Ice1672 Knicks 12h ago
People process and handle situations differently, if he needed to remove himself from something to enjoy it again there isn’t a thing wrong with that
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u/bingersforall 12h ago
I love how injuries are never brought up when it comes to Ben Simmons but injuries definitely hindered his career
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u/robiisports 11h ago
Just because you have the gifts to play in the league doesn’t mean you enjoy it. Embiid isn’t serious about winning but he’s still rich and it beats any other job he could have. When I was a kid, I played with a 6’10” 13 year old. He had zero interest in basketball but it got him a free college education.
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u/Lopsided_Tie7816 8h ago
Really? I guess MJ wasn't passionate about the game either when he gave it up to play a different sport
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u/OldAndSlow Supersonics 9h ago
Yeah. My first thought was "how could he take a year away from ball with his passion for the game?" :P
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u/BrunsonAndDone 9h ago
In 30 years when you’re 45 and have back problems his comments will make sense.
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u/AP_professional 13h ago
I can relate. I took a year off from my job too. Came back with a better attitude and performance. Maybe a sabbatical was exactly what the young socialite needed.
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u/According-Ebb-8255 12h ago
Wish I could take a year off from work
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u/MrSully89 7h ago
Then get in elite shape and become a multimillionaire athlete
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u/According-Ebb-8255 7h ago
Working on it boss but I’m almost 40 now. I’ll just take a year off when I’m dead
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u/theyoloGod Tampa Bay Raptors 13h ago
He didn’t pick up a basketball for the entire year? Wtf. I get recovering but uh
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u/infinitebest Knicks 11h ago
I truly believe that when a pro athlete gets the yips and can’t get back in the groove (guy is afraid to shoot but has the ability, baseball player was a slugger or ace pitcher and suddenly sucks) they need to temporarily step away and do something dramatic for a paradigm shift. Primarily psychedelic therapy like ayahuasca or LSD, but in this case it was sport fishing.
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u/Mikeymania Bulls 13h ago
So when teams give him 15 feet of space and say "Shoot it, you coward", what exactly is going to happen?
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u/sorendiz [HOU] Yao Ming 12h ago
i wish him luck staying healthy, i fully understand the struggle of trying to get things right with back injuries. there's really nothing quite comparable to it
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 Raptors 12h ago
I'm convinced that a lot of people in this sub don't actually like basketball. They really can't see the positivity in anything and feel like they have to hate everything.
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u/Trashpanda1980 12h ago
The Lakers didn't have him tryout or offer him a league min contract. Could've been a steal, remember when Magic said he want to work with Ben and help develop his game.
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u/JustoTJ 11h ago
The game of basketball ends for everyone, for most of the people in the comment section the game ended in middle school! You guy have no clue what professional sports does to people’s minds or bodies! People who are burnt out mentally at work can take unpaid leave for mental health reasons. There’s literally no need to make light of what Ben is saying here.
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u/Crying_in_99Ranch NBA 11h ago
Trying to play professional sports with chronic back injuries sounds line the worst thing. You'd never have a chance to heal. I'm happy he could step away and focus on himself and decide to come back on his own terms.
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u/music-nba-space-cbd 10h ago
Idk what he’ll look like on the court, but I believe him in that being out of the league was good for him 🙏
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u/imperialmoose Bulls 9h ago
Ben Simmons took the Michael Jordan path and people are clowning him for it 😥
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u/ProdigyMamba Knicks 8h ago
the Ben Simmons you’d want to have, would’ve been perfect on this Knicks team ngl. would’ve been just unfair
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u/SeoneAsa 8h ago
"This is the year he finally becomes LeBron 2.0 with his promising jump shot" hype off-season.
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u/Organic_Warthog7238 6h ago
I just wanna see one of my fav players win man. Ben and lonzo were my guys injuries suck hopefully he can return to his all nba defense level back injuries truly do suck we saw how they murdered Dwight’s career
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u/mybankpin Celtics 5h ago
Not putting the two on anywhere near the same level of greatness, but if being forced by his body to take a year off allowed Crosby to return at full strength, hopefully it also does wonders for Ben Simmons.
I think it'd be fun to see a Simmons renaissance.
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u/minkeybeer Lakers 4h ago
I hope he has recovered from his physical and/or mental health conditions, and can play meaningful basketball.
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u/jawid72 13h ago
Brother, you took several years off while still being an active player. Even faked injuries.
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u/CSGB13 13h ago
Great to be at the “Ben Simmons could be good” phase of the pre-season