Philadelphia 76ers’ All-Star guard Ben Simmons is known for being a reluctant long-range shooter and it appears this almost cost him his starting job. According to the latest piece penned by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, 76ers’ head coach Brett Brown considered benching Simmons if he continued to refuse shooting three-pointers.
Brown told MacMullan that he had a conversation with Simmons and his parents last summer about the topic of three-point shooting and was close to taking drastic measures.
“I told Ben, ‘If you aren’t willing to shoot, then do I just bench you? Because I can do that,'” Brown explained. “We could have gone that route or continue to coach him as it relates to spacing. We worked on the ability to use it as a choice to shoot the 3, catch and go, get in the paint, or find someone else.”
Eventually, Brown decided to keep Simmons in the starting lineup, hoping that the 23-year-old will make the necessary adjustments by himself.
“I opted to take this path. I think only down the road will we be able to truly assess if it was the right one, ” he added. “In the meantime, he’s a two-time All-Star, a kid that’s gone from a college 4 to an NBA point guard. His story is a pretty darn good one.”
Since making his debut in 2017, Ben Simmons attempted a total of 23 three-pointers and made just two of them, both this season. Still, Simmons managed to thrive despite not having a long-range shot in his arsenal. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year award and followed that up with two consecutive All-Star appearances.
