{"id":931493,"date":"2026-10-17T13:26:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/931493\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T13:26:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:26:38","slug":"another-positive-step-for-simmons-in-nba-comeback-bendigo-advertiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/931493\/","title":{"rendered":"Another positive step for Simmons in NBA comeback | Bendigo Advertiser"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AussieAussie Ben Simmons has gone close to a triple-double in a pre-season Kings loss to San Antonio. Photo: AP PHOTO<\/p>\n

Australia’s Ben Simmons continues to show promising signs in his NBA comeback despite Sacramento suffering a fifth consecutive pre-season defeat.<\/p>\n

The Kings were thrashed 126-97 by last season’s runners-up San Antonio on Friday (Saturday AEDT), but Simmons’ performance over 26 minutes was cause for optimism.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne-born veteran grew into the game after a mixed first half, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and one steal.<\/p>\n

He went 5-of-9 from the field and scored 12 points in the third quarter alone.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Simmons proved a handful with the ball for Victor Wembanyama and his Spurs teammates. (AP PHOTO)<\/p>\n

Simmons showcased his play-making ability as he found the likes of Kings top-scorer Zach LaVine (20 points) for open shots.<\/p>\n

It was another promising display as Simmons builds towards his first NBA regular-season game since April 2025.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old former No.1 draft pick has faced plenty of criticism after sitting out all of last season to focus on physical and mental health.<\/p>\n

Simmons’ extended stint on the sidelines followed a series of injuries that took a significant toll on the three-time All-Star’s body and mind.<\/p>\n

Doubters have repeatedly questioned Simmons love of basketball, but the man himself branded that criticism “bullshit” after he inked his NBA return on a one-year deal with Sacramento.<\/p>\n

NBA greats Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin this week backed Simmons to reproduce some of his best basketball this season, as long as his head is in the game.<\/p>\n

“He is incredibly talented, he’s a big body and he can defend so many positions. Downhill he gets to the rim and he’s a great passer,” Griffin said at the NBA on Prime launch in New York.<\/p>\n

“I want to see a great year from him because he’s a special talent and I think the league is better off with a guy like him in it.”<\/p>\n

Australian Associated Press<\/p>\n

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Loading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aussie Ben Simmons has gone close to a triple-double in a pre-season Kings loss to San Antonio. Photo:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-931493","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\/931493","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=931493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}