Ben Simmons Bio: Early Life, Girlfriend & Net Worth

Benjamin Simmons is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the NBA All-Star Game three times.

We cannot always be sure that games do not bring harm; likewise, Simmons was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back on 21 March 2022.

While playing for Brooklyn Nets, he had to leave the game while playing against the Detroit Pistons in the third quarter on 26 January 2023 as he was ruled out due to left knee soreness.

In the 2016 NBA draft, he was selected as the first overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, and since then, he has risen to fame with his incredible gameplay.

Simmons is the most-fined player in NBA history. Though there were many ups and downs in Simmons career, he has been renowned for his skills in the field.

How did he become a basketball player, or is this just the start? We shall discuss all his journeys from the beginning up until now in this article.

But, before that, let’s plunge into some quick facts about our young player Ben Simmons.

Quick Facts

Early Life, Family, And Education

Outgrowing his love and passion for basketball, he started playing at seven.

Young Ben enrolled for the U-12 representative team for the Newcastle Hunters and played for two more years for Lake Macquarie and New Castle.

He moved back to Melbourne at ten and continued playing basketball with the Knox Raiders. Besides basketball, he played rugby and Australian football for Beverly Hills Junior Football Club.

He was awarded the league’s best and fairest award in the Yarra Junior football league.

While attending Whitefriars College, he was named MVP after he helped his team to assert the Year-7 Division 1A Basketball premiership.

Simmons was confused between basketball and Australian rules football; eventually, he chose to continue basketball.

Ben played basketball for Box Hill Senior Secondary College in 2011 at the Australian Schools Championships before accepting a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012.

At the end of 2012, Simmons debuted in the U.S. at the famous Pangos All-American Camp for basketball prospects.

He represented Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship at 15.

Parents And Siblings

Ben’s father, Dave, is an African-American expatriate. Dave was a professional basketball player who spent thirteen seasons in the Australian National Basketball League.

Dave also played college basketball for Oklahoma City University. Ben’s father was a popular sports fanatic and a favourite for teams like the Melbourne Tigers and Newcastle Falcons.

Dave played for six teams, including the Canberra Cannons and Sydney Kings. Moreover, the Melbourne Tigers retired his No. 25 jerseys to pay homage.

After his basketball career ended, he became a coach for Hunter Pirates between 2003 and 2005.

Talking about Ben’s mother, Julie Simmons, a white Australian. She was a cheerleader for the Melbourne Tigers; that’s when his parents met.

When Julie met Dave in 1991, she was a single mother to her four children, Melissa, Emily, Liam, and Sean, from her previous marriage.

Dave and Julie dated, and after three years, they married.

Soon after their marriage,

Dave and Julie were blessed with an elder daughter, Olivia Simmons, born in December 1991. 

According to Ben’s mother, Julie, Ben was born at the same time as the Opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The siblings grew up together and were athletic and super competitive. Ben was the youngest, which was disadvantageous while playing games with his family as he was always targeted for taunts and teases.

However, he shares a strong bond with his siblings and is still in contact with them. He talks highly about them on many occasions.

Emily Simmons is the wife of former NFL player Michael Bush. She has previously competed in women’s rowing discipline for Washington State University and has worked for Klutch Sports since 2014.

Olivia Simmons is an assistant coach of the Southwest Baptist Bearcats men’s basketball team.

While for Sean Tribe is the manager of Ben.

High School Career

Ben shifted to the United States in 2013 to share a game against strong players who could give him tough-level competition.

He played for Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. He led Montverde to win the High School National Tournament against New Jersey’s St Benedict.

Ben also played in the Jordan Brand Classic International Tournament. After that, he went on to join the Big V competition for the Bullen Boomers in Australia. He scored 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game.

Coming to his junior year at Montverde, he assisted his team to a 28-0 score, which led them to win another High School National Tournament.

Ben scored an average of 18.5 points during the game, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

He also scored a total of 88 blocks during the season. His jaw-dropping skill led him to win the tournament MVP. He also was titled America’s top high school junior.

Later he was also titled MVP at the National Basketball Players’ Association Top 100 camp.

Moreover

On 12 November 2014, Simmons inked a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for Louisiana State University (LSU). He kept playing well for the Louisiana entire season.

Furthermore, Ben became the starter for the East team at the McDonald’s All-American Game. He was the second most high school student from Florida to win the Morgan Wootten Award.

Ben also got the Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year. With his presence, he successively led Montverde to win the High School National Tournament for the third time.

ESPN.com named the Nets point guard a five-star recruit, ranking him as the #1 player in the country in 2015.

College Career

As a freshman, Ben played for the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team in the first game of a five-game tour in Australia.

He led the Tigers to win against Newcastle All-Stars in the first game. The Tigers led their five-game Australian tour with a 3–2 record.

After returning to the U.S., he got featured on the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook cover for its 35th anniversary.

He got SEC Preseason Player of the Year and was titled to the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

Ben kept proving himself as a player and was dubbed the best all-around player since LeBron James by Magic Johnson, an NBA Hall of Fame.

The Nets point guard was also listed on first-team All-Southeastern Conference and the league Freshman of the Year on the 2016 Coaches SEC voting.

Professional Career

Philadelphia 76ers (2016–present)

Simons declared for the 2016 NBA draft waiving his final three years of college. He also signed a deal with the sports agency Klutch Sports the same week.

Before his NBA selection, he was questioned by a media analyst on his behavior, but Bett Brown dismissed the claims.

Brown is a family friend and was a Philadelphia coach. Soon, Philadelphia selected Ben for the 2016 draft as the number one overall pick.

He signed a rookie contract with the 76ers and joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League.

Ben’s gameplay in the first three games was not that good; despite this, he received all the appreciation. He received All-Las Vegas Summer League First Team honors.

During the training session, the 76ers player got his right ankle rolled. Later, he underwent an x-ray and MRI and realized he had a right foot fracture. Simmons showed no recovery and was waived for the 2016-17 season.

The NBA player made an outstanding comeback in the 2017-18 season. He was considered the third rookie play to record 1000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists.

Ben was honoured with Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in February, March, and April and the Eastern Conference Player of the Week in April.

The basketball player was also awarded the Rookie of the Year and named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

He soon began training sessions with his brother and coach, Liam Tribe-Simmons, and became the second-fastest player in the NBA to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists.

Ben was the first Australian to be named to the Eastern Conference All-Star reserve.

Ben Simmons Recent Career

On 22 February 2020, while playing a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Simmons had to leave the game in the first quarter because of a lower back injury.

Simmons had a nerve impingement in his lower back, and the team listed him as “out for an extended period of time.”

He was sidelined until the NBA returned after pausing play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of the 2020 season, he was the 2020 NBA steals leader and was named to the All-NBA Third Team and NBA All-Defensive First Team.

In the 2021 season, Simmons did not want to play with the 76ers and asked for his trade; he would miss the training camp to push his trade. He was fined several times because of his behaviour.

Simmons became the most-fined player in NBA history due to the repeated fines for missed games, with reports showing he had surpassed $10 million by the end of 2021.

Simmons, Andre Drummond, and Seth Curry, two future first-round picks, were traded to the Brooklyn Nets on 10 February 2022 in exchange for James Harden and Paul Millsap.

He has been facing health challenges a lot. Similarly, on 24 April, in a game against Celtics, the Nets announced that Simmons would not play in Game 4 due to back soreness.

The Nets lost the game while being eliminated in the playoffs. He underwent back surgery on 5 May.

National Team Career

Since his jovial days, he was offered to play for the national team. At 15, he represented Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, where they won a silver medal.

After that, he tried to represent his national team in several other championships but could not make it for some reason.

He played for the senior side in the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship, where they received gold.

Ben has also explained his thought on playing in the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics. However, he withdrew from the Australian Olympic team to improve his shooting skills for the 2021-2022 NBS season.

Career Stats

Personal Life, Relationship, And Girlfriends

According to online sources, Ben has been linked with many celebrities and non-celebrities. They were Brittany Renner, Amber Rose, Dylan Gonzalez, and Tinashe.

Ben was also linked with Kendell Jenner since 2018. The pair were ween hanging out with each other on several occasions, however, they have never admitted their relationship officially.

However, as of now, the two are not acquainted with each other. Jenner is in a relationship with another NBA player named Devin Booker.

They even celebrated their one-year anniversary on June 12, 2021. But it seems the relationship is not going smoothly for her as she is in highlight because of her on-and-off relationship with Booker.

Furthermore, Ben was in a relationship with British television and radio presenter Maya Jama after separating from Kendall. 

Maya is a TV presenter who used to fly to Philadelphia to see the basketball player and spend some time with him.

Ben and Maya officially confirmed their relationship as a facetime screenshot of the pair chatting was leaked, and both seemed pretty shy and giggly.

The couple used to like and comment on each other’s posts. 

Besides that, they were often spotted together, and these signs were enough to show they were special to each other.

Previously, Jama was in a relationship with rapper Stormzy. 

Jama and Ben were engaged in 2021 Christmas; however, in August 2022, the couple reportedly ended their engagement.

Well, Simmons does not have any children and is currently single. 

Ben Simmons | Net Worth And Salary

After knowing his college, professional, and national team career, we can assume his net worth must be high.

As per Gossip Gist, Ben Simmons had an accumulated net worth of $7.5 million.

As of 2024, Simmons has a net worth of $6 million.

Only a slow and steady increment can come to his salary. As a rookie player, he used to earn $6.4 million in 2018-19, leveled up to $8.1 million in 2019-20, and $10.5 million in 2020-21.

Endorsements And Other Ventures

In the Showtime documentary film One & Done, Simmons showed a glimpse into his time as a one-and-done college player.

Simmons has inked an endorsement deal with Nike worth $20 million. In addition, he announced Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 2020 United States presidential election.

Moreover, he is a supporter of the Essendon Bombers in the Australian Football League and in a paid partnership with @kelloggsfrostedflakes and Tony the Tiger to help spread the word about #MissionTiger.

Ben has also been involved in a project named Do more to end racism.

Ben Simmons | Social Media Presence

To all the BEN fans, there is nothing to worry about. We can easily catch him on his Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook profiles. He stays abundantly available there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ben Simmons (@bensimmons)

He keeps posting about his family, friends, tournament, lavish lifestyle, tours, and adventures that he opts for.

Facebook- @ben.simmons.025 (554k followers)

Twitter- @BenSimmons25  (1m followers)

Instagram-@bensimmons (6.8m followers)

Not to mention, he has a youtube channel, too, with 87.1k subscribers.

Popularity Graph

Ben Simmons is a basketball player who plays for the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA.

The above graph shows Simmons’s popularity over the past twelve months.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

What is Ben Simmons's reach?

Earlier, Ben had a maximum vertical reach of 3.84 meters (12 ft 6 in), but he now has 2.47 meters. Furthermore, he has the highest reach of any player.

Who is Ben Simmons's agent?

Agent Rich Paul represents the basketball player Ben. He is the founder of Klutch Sports Group and represents many well-known NBA players like Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, LeBron James, Lonzo Ball, etc.

What is Ben Simmons's defense and offensive rating?

Simmons's defense rating was 106.6 offensive rating for the 2020-21 season is 114.0. As of 2023, Simmons's defensive rating is 108.9 per this season and an offensive rating of 111.5.

What is Ben Simmons's haircut called?

The NBA player's haircut is called the hi-top fade. His hairstyle is quite famous among youngsters.