Ben Simmons
Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers, after which he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. Simmons was selected with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the 76ers. After sitting out a year due to an injured right foot, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018. Simmons was named NBA All-Star in 2019 and 2020.
Simmons attended Box Hill Senior Secondary College before moving to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. In his only season in college, LSU began the season with high expectations, but failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Simmons left school to enter the NBA draft, becoming the third Melbourne-born number one overall pick (following Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving) in 11 years. Simmons is the son of an American-born father, Dave, who played pro basketball in Australia. A dual citizen of Australia and the United States, Simmons has played for the Australian national team.
Simmons was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy to father Dave and mother Julie. His father is an African-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia, and his mother is a white Australian. He was raised alongside five brothers and sisters—Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia—the first four being from his mother's previous marriage. His father played college basketball for Oklahoma City University in the United States before turning professional with the Melbourne Tigers in Australia's National Basketball League in 1989.
Simmons was raised in Newcastle from the age of 18 months while his father played and coached in the city. Simmons began playing basketball at the age of seven in the Newcastle Hunters' under-12 representative team and played two more years for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. While in Newcastle, he also played junior rugby league.
At age 10, Simmons returned to Melbourne and began playing junior basketball for the Knox Raiders. Along with basketball, he also played Australian rules football at the junior level. In Year 7, while attending Whitefriars College, Simmons was named MVP after he helped Whitefriars win the Year-7 Division 1A Basketball premiership.
As a teenager, Simmons was torn between his two loves of basketball and Australian rules football, but eventually decided to focus on basketball. In Year 9, at the age of 15, Simmons played basketball for Box Hill Senior Secondary College at the 2011 Australian Schools Championships before taking up a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012. Later that year, Simmons made his first appearance in the United States at the renowned Pangos All-American Camp for basketball prospects. Despite being only 15 years old, he was chosen to represent Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.
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