{"id":923949,"date":"2026-10-11T06:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T06:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/923949\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T06:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T06:42:16","slug":"ben-simmons-gives-warning-to-nba-after-impression-vs-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/923949\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Simmons Gives Warning To NBA After Impression Vs Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Sacramento\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 28: Ben Simmons #25 of the Sacramento Kings poses for a picture during the Kings Media Day at Sacramento Kings Practice Facility on September 28, 2026 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ben Simmons<\/a> officially made his return to the NBA<\/a> court on Saturday, Oct. 10, playing in a preseason game for the Sacramento Kings<\/a> against the Golden State Warriors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inserted into the starting lineup due to Domantas Sabonis<\/a> being sidelined, Simmons played a restricted nine minutes in the first quarter before being shut down for the night.<\/p>\n

Simmons showed flashes of his aggressive form, finishing with 7 points and 1 assist on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, though he also recorded two turnovers and two early personal fouls.<\/p>\n

His performance gave Simmons renewed belief in himself, saying after the game that he is just as good as he once was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt really good,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re out for a year and come back, it\u2019s a good feeling to just be out there and compete and get the first one out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Simmons Is Now Healthy And Confident
\n\"SacramentoGettySACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 28: Ben Simmons #25 of the Sacramento Kings poses for a picture during the Kings Media Day at Sacramento Kings Practice Facility on September 28, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Simmons attributed his feeling to his health after sitting out the past season to recuperate from his chronic back injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it is just being healthy and being able to do what I do, and also adding to that, being more aggressive,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cI\u2019m older now. I\u2019m about the same player I was a few years ago, especially given that I\u2019m healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmons showed short jumpers and one-handers, similar to what he did when he was still playing at an All-Star level with the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>. At one point, he did it against defensive virtuoso Draymond Green<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simmons added that he feels that the game has slowed down for him, allowing him to make better decisions on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game has just slowed down a lot for me, and I see a lot more now. Having a lot of years under my belt, the game has slowed down for me, and I can make better decisions. Obviously, I haven\u2019t played in a year, but I still feel confident out there to make the right plays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ben Simmons Wants To Be Smart In Reintegration To NBA Basketball
\n\"SacramentoGettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA \u2013 OCTOBER 08: Ben Simmons #25 of the Sacramento Kings looks on against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> during the first quarter in a preseason game at Crypto.com Arena on October 08, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With the Sacramento Kings, Ben Simmons does not have much pressure to be a star or lead the team to winning ways.<\/p>\n

Simmons acknowledged that after his first game back against the Warriors, insisting that he wants to be smart in his reintegration to the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a buildup. It\u2019s part of this process that I\u2019m going through. Just being smart about it, but I feel great,\u201d he said. \u201cI put in a lot of work to get back here, so it\u2019s just being smart about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I haven\u2019t played in a year. This is my first time playing in a year. For me, it\u2019s just doing the right things and being smart about it, and building from there because it\u2019s going to be a long year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmons signed to a one-year, veteran minimum contract worth up to $3.52 million with the Kings in the offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incentive-free, low-risk structure carries a salary cap hit of roughly $2.45 million for Sacramento and allows the front office flexibility, as it does not include any multi-year stability or guaranteed money at signing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simmons is utilizing this contract as a professional lifeline to rebuild his value and establish himself as a versatile, multi-positional bench player.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRob Andrew Lo<\/a> Rob Andrew Lo is a writer at Heavy Sports and is covering the NBA. He has covered local, collegiate, professional and international sports in various sites. He was the sports editor of The Varsitarian, the official student publication of University of Santo Tomas, and a sports, entertainment, and lifestyle writer for Rappler.
\n
\nA Journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, he has built his voice across both collegiate and international platforms, previously contributing NBA coverage to Fansided and Sportskeeda.
\n More about Rob Andrew Lo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 28: Ben Simmons #25 of the Sacramento Kings poses for a picture during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-923949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}