After his worst campaign yet as a pro last season, Ben Simmons has slowly become a forgotten figure in the NBA. But to be fair, he wanted this to some degree. He is believed to still be eyeing an NBA comeback this season, but even before that, there were actually offers for him to remain in the league from teams which he flat-out declined.
Simmons is still viewed as one of the better names available for taking in the open market, but it seems like he is concurrently chasing another thing entirely distinct from basketball — professional fishing. According to longtime NBA writer Marc J. Spears, the former Philadelphia 76ers star is trying to make a name for himself in pro fishing as he prepares for an NBA comeback.
Yes, you read that right — Simmons is trying to be a professional fisher, which is definitely a field famously known for polishing basketball skills and replicating the competitive fire in the NBA hardwood. Right.
Ben Simmons continues to confuse people with his latest obsession
Simmons taking time off to get his body right and regain his confidence by honing his skills is indeed a sensible move for him given where he is currently at in his career. However, it would probably be much more beneficial for him to focus solely on finding ways to be an impactful player in the NBA while he is out there presumably working on his game.
If Simmons doubles down on this latest extracurricular pursuit of his, teams will undoubtedly think twice about his body of work while he is out of the league. People want to see how he tries to fit in the modern NBA, meaning that they are hoping that he can become a functional player outside the paint who is not afraid to take shots and be a mere passing dummy in the half court. Doing fishing as a competitive endeavor does very little to pump optimism into those aspects.
Objectively speaking, the former 76ers franchise star still has more than enough talent to figure things out and turn out to be an impactful role player in the NBA. However, if his attention remains divided, he will only feed into this narrative that he lacks the passion required to have staying power in the league.
As such, this development is certainly one that carries some red flags, at least to teams in the NBA. Hopefully, Ben Simmons can prove that his attempt at NBA glory is real, and the latent vainglory is more perceived than real.