The Philadelphia 76ers Selecting Ben Simmons Saga

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Mar 23, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; LSU freshman Ben Simmons (center) sits in the front row during a game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

A Ben Off The Ole Bronx Block

David Simmons grew up in the South Bronx, where he played center for his high school basketball team. After graduation, he knocked around leagues in Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela until he got a call from his agent: an Austrian team were in town and there might be a job for him.

He met with Melbourne Tigers coach Lindsay Gaze in a hotel lobby.

"“Lindsay Gaze walks up to me and goes, ‘G’day mate.’ He’s got five coins, showing me the offence he’s going to run for that night,” Simmons recalls. “I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s crazy’, but eight years down the track [we were] still running that offence and it worked out all right.”- David Simmons"

Dave Simmons, together with fellow American Dave Colbert – went by the nickname “The Double Ds” – transformed a losing culture at the Melbourne Tigers to the team’s first championship in 1993.

"“I was very physical. Finesse wasn’t my thing,”- Dave Simmons"

It was here that fate stepped in. The head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brett Brown, was the assistant head coach of the Melbourne Tigers.

In Melbourne, Dave met Julie at a gym. She was a cheerleader for the Tigers, and had caught David’s eye. They began to date, which led to marriage: his first, her second. Heartwarmingly, he willingly accepted her four children from her previous marriage – Melissa, Emily, Liam and Sean – as if they were his own. As a couplete, they brought daughter Olivia and son Ben into the world together..

Ben, the youngest by five years, tagged along to any sporting event, basketball, rowing, Austrailian football, and cricket. But Ben was fed a constant stream of basketball from his father.

"“We were like, ‘Throw him a ball, see if he can dribble’, from the time Ben could take his dummy out of his mouth and shoot it like that into the sink” – David Simmons"

Ben was the natural son to a basketball player, so each element of his father’s basketball profession became his heritage. His father was good, having played played 13 years of pro ball in Australia where he played under Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown. The elder Simmons played so well for the Melbourne Tigers, they would eventually retire his number.

Next: Brett Brown