Although LSU was upset by a previously struggling Marquette team 81-80 in the semifinals of the Legends Classic at the Barclays center Monday night, Ben Simmons had a performance for the ages and showed the nation why some consider him the front runner to be the number one pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
Simmons dazzled with 21 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists and showed off some of his unique quickness, ball handling and court vision for a player his age and his size at 6’9″ 250 lbs. Remind you of anybody else? A certain somebody that took his talents to South Beach before coming back home…
All of which was on display in this impressive coast to coast finish in traffic in the first half:
Ben Simmons is the real deal pic.twitter.com/Tk3c2aAaJX
— Evan Devine (@So_Devine_) November 24, 2015
There were 51 NBA scouts in total in attendance last night to watch Simmons and other super freshman Marquette power forward Henry Ellenson who had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
NBA fans are already calling for their teams to “Suck for Simmons” and the leader of that movement seams to be Ben Simmons media namesake and former ESPN and Grantland creator Bill Simmons. The Celtics have the Nets unprotected pick in 2016 and Bill Simmons has regularly been reaching out to Ben Simmons about great places to live in the Boston area.
Ben Simmons tweeted back at Bill Simmons on October 29 a photo of him creating a My Player on NBA 2K16 and the screenshot list Simmons favorite team as the Celtics:
@BillSimmons pic.twitter.com/dcIdtoA834
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) October 30, 2015
Will Simmons be the next great hope for the storied Boston Celtics franchise? Or the next spark the next era of greatness for the Lakers? Or will he save Sam Hinkie’s job and the sinking ship that is the 76ers or the scariest scenario of all, team up with “The Brow” in New Orleans to create a super duo. The 2016 draft is light years away but whoever is lucky enough to land Simmons may have a potential superstar on their hands.
