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An NBA prodigy-turned-bust has another career on his mind.
Ben Simmons was named to three All-Star Games in his first five NBA seasons and was a defensive stalwart, but suddenly became a travesty.
Simmons, still just 29 years old, has not played this season but has been active elsewhere, purchasing an ownership stake in the Sports Fishing Championship’s South Florida Sails Angling Club. Simmons grew up in Australia, where fishing was a regular activity.
“I have always believed that investing in what you love means you have a responsibility to help move it forward,” Simmons said in a statement. “Sportfishing has given me incredible experiences, and SFC is creating a platform that treats offshore fishing like the elite sport it is.”
Simmons told Andscape that the SFC is the “LIV Golf” and “F1” of fishing.
“The first real competitive sport fishing championship. It’s a league of 16 teams, which is growing and expanding. And so, we’ll go out there and compete in various different tournaments, and there’ll be a champion crowned at the end. It’s a point-scored system. So, you’re fishing for white marlin, blue marlin, sailfish and striped marlin. There are all different point systems for each one,” Simmons told the outlet.
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“It’s a very niche sport. And if you don’t know, you don’t know. But once you experience it and get out there and see what it’s about, you’re kind of in awe of what the sport is. And that’s just something I’ve always been interested in in terms of the sport of fishing. The technique. And there’s so much to it that people just don’t understand. These guys are fishing on million-dollar vessels, and they’re out for days at a time. So, it’s tedious and gritty, but a lot of fun. It’s one of those worlds where you just got to kind of experience it, get into it and see what it’s about.”
Simmons, who was drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, spent six seasons with them but didn’t play in two of them. He missed his rookie year due to injuries, and he missed the 2021-22 campaign due to injuries and a holdout. With Philadelphia, he was a triple-double threat, averaging 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists.
He was then part of the blockbuster James Harden trade that sent him to the Brooklyn Nets, where the flameout officially began. With Brooklyn, in 90 games spanning four seasons, he averaged 6.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.2 rebounds.
Simmons played 18 games for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, and those numbers were cut by more than half.
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