Ben Simmons

Simmons was born in Melbourne to Julie Tribe and Dave Simmons, an American-born former professional basketball player who competed in Australia's National Basketball League for the Melbourne Tigers. Simmons holds dual citizenship in Australia and the United States and grew up in a blended family with five older siblings: Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia. His sister Emily worked for the sports agency Klutch Sports and married former NFL player Michael Bush, while his brother Liam served as an assistant college coach before working directly with Simmons as a personal shooting coach. His godfather, David Patrick, coached in the collegiate ranks, including an assistant role at LSU.

Outside of basketball, Simmons grew up supporting Australian rules football club Essendon and rugby league club Newcastle Knights. Over the 2021 Christmas holiday, Simmons became engaged to British television presenter Maya Jama, though the couple ended their engagement in August 2022. He previously had relationships with singer Tinashe and model Kendall Jenner.

Simmons was raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, from early childhood while his father played and coached basketball in the region. He started playing junior basketball at age seven for the Newcastle Hunters before returning to Melbourne at age 10 to play for the Knox Raiders. During his youth, Simmons also played Australian rules football and rugby league, eventually choosing to focus exclusively on basketball as a teenager. After playing for Box Hill Senior Secondary College and earning a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport, he represented Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, winning a silver medal.

In January 2013, Simmons moved to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Florida. He led the school to three consecutive High School National Tournament championships between 2013 and 2015. In his senior year, Simmons averaged 28.0 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, earning tournament MVP honors at Madison Square Garden. He swept major national honors, receiving the Morgan Wootten Award, the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, and the Gatorade National Player of the Year while being rated the consensus top recruit in the United States.

Simmons enrolled at Louisiana State University to play for the LSU Tigers during the 2015-16 season. In December 2015, he posted 43 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocks in a victory over North Florida, matching Shaquille O'Neal's school mark from 1991 for the highest single-game scoring output by a Tiger.

Simmons led LSU across major statistical categories, finishing the season with averages of 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. Despite earning consensus first-team All-American recognition, the USBWA National Freshman of the Year award, and SEC Freshman of the Year honors, LSU finished with an 18-13 regular-season record and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Simmons subsequently declared for the NBA draft and signed with Klutch Sports.

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Simmons with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, making him the third Melbourne-born top overall pick alongside Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving. He was also the first modern-era top pick who had never played in the NCAA tournament. A fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot suffered during training camp forced him to sit out the entire 2016-17 season.

Simmons made his NBA debut in October 2017, recording a triple-double in his fourth career game to join Oscar Robertson and Art Williams as the only rookies in league history to accomplish that feat so quickly. He finished his debut season averaging 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game, helping Philadelphia post a 52-30 record. In the 2018 postseason, he became the first rookie since Magic Johnson in 1980 to register a playoff triple-double. At the end of the campaign, Simmons won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

In the 2018-19 season, Simmons earned his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve, becoming the first Australian player in league history to receive the honor. That season, he reached 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists in 125 games, trailing only Oscar Robertson in the speed of reaching that benchmark. In 2019-20, Simmons transitioned between point guard and power forward, leading the NBA in steals with 2.1 per game and earning spots on the All-NBA Third Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team.

During the 2020-21 campaign, Simmons scored a career-high 42 points in a game against the Utah Jazz and earned his third consecutive All-Star appearance. However, the postseason ended in disappointment during the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, where Simmons struggled at the free-throw line, shooting 34.2 percent across the playoffs and drawing intense public scrutiny after passing up an open scoring opportunity in Game 7. In August 2021, Simmons requested a trade and held out from the team, missing training camp, preseason games, and regular-season appearances before being suspended and fined.

In February 2022, Philadelphia traded Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden and Paul Millsap. Simmons did not play during the remainder of that season due to a herniated disk that required back surgery in May 2022.

Simmons made his Nets debut in October 2022 but continued to face interruptions from knee soreness and back inflammation. In March 2023, he was shut down for the remainder of the season due to a nerve impingement. After appearing in only 15 games during the 2023-24 season, he underwent a microscopic partial discectomy to address ongoing nerve issues in his lower back. In February 2025, the Nets bought out Simmons' contract, and he subsequently signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, playing 18 regular-season games and five playoff games before entering free agency.

Simmons made his international debut at age 15, winning a silver medal with Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Lithuania. He made his senior debut for the Australian Boomers at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship, appearing in a two-game series against New Zealand that earned Australia the gold medal.

While Simmons expressed interest in representing Australia at the Olympic Games and the FIBA Basketball World Cup on multiple occasions, he withdrew from tournaments including the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the 2024 Paris Olympics due to draft preparations, individual skill development, and recurring back injuries.