{"id":913685,"date":"2026-09-29T05:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T05:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/913685\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T05:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T05:18:09","slug":"i-love-this-game-ben-simmons-rejects-nba-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/913685\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I love this game’: Ben Simmons rejects NBA criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

A revitalised Ben Simmons<\/a> has called “bull—-” on critics who claim the reason he sat out the last NBA season is because he doesn’t love basketball.<\/p>\n

The Australian guard is back in the big league this year, having signed a $US3.5 million ($A4.9 million) deal with the Sacramento Kings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Simmons purchased a controlling stake in a professional sport fishing team and didn’t touch a basketball during his year off, in moves that drew plenty of criticism.<\/p>\n

But the 30-year-old, who has been ravaged by injuries during his decade-long career, insists the break was purely about rebuilding his physical and mental health.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t about if I wanted to play,” Simmons told reporters at the Kings’ preseason media session on Tuesday (AEST).<\/p>\n

“All these people talk about how I don’t love the game – that’s bull—-.<\/p>\n

“I love this game. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have taken that year to focus on myself and get back to where I’m at.”<\/p>\n

Simmons added he’s not worried by critics chasing clicks from his name, declaring he’s ready to prove to the world how much he missed basketball.<\/p>\n

“I get to come out here and be creative and play hard and compete against a numerous amount of talented guys, so for me it’s just in my blood and I’ve been doing it since I was a baby.”<\/p>\n

Simmons – a former No.1 overall draft pick, rookie of the year and three-time All-Star – believes the player he was at his peak “woke up” while he was out of the game.<\/p>\n

And he’s not short on confidence, bluntly outlining his personal goal this season.<\/p>\n

“To dominate. Every time I step on the floor – to dominate,” he said.<\/p>\n

Simmons last played with the Los Angeles Clippers in April 2025 and took his year off as a result of persistent back and leg injuries, which took a significant toll on his body and mind.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne-born star got serious in his comeback bid in August when he flew himself to a player-driven Boomers camp in his home town, where he impressed NBA scouts.<\/p>\n

Sacramento pounced, signing Simmons on a one-season veteran league minimum deal.<\/p>\n

“I’m right where I need to be,” Simmons said.<\/p>\n

“I took a lot of time to focus on my body over the season, and I think it’s the best decision I’ve made for my career.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking forward to getting going. I feel great, and I’m ready to go. No limitations.”<\/p>\n

Simmons expects to benefit from the low expectations on himself and the Kings, who were 22-60 last season and have only reached the playoffs once since 2006.<\/p>\n

“It’s really positive. There’s no pressure,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They don’t expect anything from us, so I think for us to go out there and show that we’re capable of winning games and having a good team – that’s doable.<\/p>\n

“Based on this roster, I think we can do that.”<\/p>\n

Sacramento open the NBA preseason at home against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> on October 5, and visit the Clippers for their regular-season opener on October 21.<\/p>\n

Simmons’ NBA comeback is also a step towards possible Australian Boomers selection for next year’s FIBA World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.br\/]<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A revitalised Ben Simmons has called “bull—-” on critics who claim the reason he sat out the last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":913686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[315379,49,48,1161,459,10679,315378,82],"class_list":["post-913685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-315379","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-espn","tag-nba","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-simmons-ben","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}