Ben Simmons is trying to make an NBA comeback at 30 years old after injuries kept him out of the league last season. The forward is training with the Australian national men’s basketball team in private runs this week with the hope of making the 2028 Olympic roster, and as videos from those sessions start to circulate, it’s time for one of modern basketball’s greatest late offseason traditions.
It feels like every offseason features videos of Simmons showing off an improved outside shooting stroke. This of course never actually holds when the games matter, as Simmons has made just five three-pointers in 383 career NBA games. I was worried that we’d never get another mid-August video of Simmons stroking jumpers in a pickup run again after his career stalled out last year, but I was wrong! Watch a shirtless Simmons connect from deep in the video below:
Simmons has legitimately never recovered from refusing to take an open dunk during Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. Simmons was named an All-Star for the third consecutive season that year, but his body started to break down after repeated back and nerve injuries, and he’s never been able to rediscover his best level.
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Videos of Simmons ripping jumpers in pickup runs have been circulating for a decade. Here’s a video from July 2019:
Here’s Simmons ripping jumpers in offseason training sessions from 2021:
Fans clown Simmons for his broken jumper, but he was still a special talent at his peak. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons was 2018 Rookie of the Year, earned two First-Team All-Defense nods, one All-NBA team, and three All-Star bids during his short prime. He was an elite defensive forward with incredible passing ability who could score in the open floor as well as any player in the league. His athleticism waned as the injuries piled up, and eventually he started to play scared offensively because he didn’t want to go to the free throw line. Still, Simmons ranks No. 2 in BPM and No. 4 in win shares per 48 minutes from the 2016 draft class to this day.
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I wouldn’t count out a Simmons comeback. He could make sense on a team like the Boston Celtics that can surround him with shooters, using him as a passing hub, and unleash him on defense. While videos of made jumpers in an empty gym will always go viral for Simmons, the big question for his potential comeback is if he can get healthy enough to defend at a high level again.
Lots has changed in the NBA over the last decade, but Ben Simmons is still going viral for making threes in pickup runs. It’s kind of beautiful if you think about it.
