It was announced this morning that Ben Simmons is out for the rest of the season. That is a bummer for him and the Nets. Simmons was a big acquisition. He was the prize for the Nets in the James Harden deal.

Simmons has a rookie of the year to his name, he was an all defensive player, a borderline all NBA player and was the face of the unicorn 6'10 point guard. He was the first big man since Magic Johnson to truly run an offense. He was up and coming, a guy to possibly build around, then the pass against the Hawks happened.

For people that may not know about this pass, Simmons had a wide open dunk that would've put the 76ers up in a possible closeout game, but he passed it off to Tobias Harris, who was fouled. Harris shot free throws, but the dye was cast with Simmons at that moment. He became the guy scared to get fouled and didn't want the ball in critical moments. He passed up a wide open dunk. I cannot state how wide open this dunk was. He is 6'10. He had zero defenders in front of him. All he had to do was put the ball in the hoop and he chose to pass. After that it has all been downhill for him.

He came into 76ers camp that season after the pass and he could not have been more disinterested. He publicly asked for a trade. The 76ers did not do it during the offseason, and with the threat of not getting paid, he reported to camp. But he didn't have to practice hard while he was there. He wore sweatpants. He didn't participate in any drills. He had his phone in his pocket during practice. He was disengaged when Doc Rivers would speak to the team. He was there physically, but not mentally. Then the season started and the 76ers did just fine without him. They won enough games. Joel Embiid took on the role of focal point and he thrived. He was becoming the MVP player we all knew he could become. Tyrese Maxey started to show signs of growth. Tobias Harris was putting up steady numbers. The 76ers were fine. They eventually got a deal they deemed worthy, and sent Simmons to the Nets. In return the 76ers got James Harden and Paul Milsap. The 76ers seemed happy to move on and Simmons was going to be able to start over. Brooklyn was excited about being somewhere new.

Yet Simmons did not play much his first season with the Nets. He played 42 games, averaged 26 minutes in those games and scored 7 points a game and had 6 assists and 6 boards. Those numbers are all well and good, but compared to his time with the 76ers, it was chump change. For example, the prior season with Philly he averaged 14 ppg, 7 boards and 7 assists. The year before he was a 16, 7 and 8. He had very good numbers with Philly, but he wanted the change and he got it. While the numbers may have not been in his favor, he seemed happier. He openly talked about his mental health struggles. Now, I do believe him when he says he has mental health stuff, but not all of it is causing his game to suffer. He's brought on a bunch of that himself. He always seems to post offseason videos of him shooting threes and playing pickup games. He has talked a bunch in the past two years about how excited he is to play. He seemed very ready to go when this season started. But then he missed a ton of time to start the season. And when he came back, he was a sideline to sideline player. He stayed away from attacking the rim. He would not set up in the dunker spot. He did not want to shoot. He was terrified to get fouled. And he was putting up pedestrian numbers. He was averaging barely over 6 points this season. He was averaging less than 6 assists, which is rough for a lead ball handler. And he was only playing 23 minutes a game. He also only appeared in 15 games before shutting it down this year. His team says it is due to a back issue, and while that may be true, he has other issues to deal with.

I don't know that I've seen a player of Simmons caliber fall as hard as he has to this moment. He was a top tier recruit. He was a solid one and done college player. He was the number one overall pick in his draft. He achieved very high highs in the NBA. And now he is an afterthought. That bums me out. He had the potential to be a modern day Magic. He could have truly changed the game. But he let one play shape him into the player he has become to this day. That is a shame. Ben Simmons could have done great things if he could've moved past one stupid decision in a meaningful game. He couldn't and now he is a player that up and coming kids will not want to be compared to. He has really fallen off. I hope he finds his way back, a la Markelle Fultz. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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