Back in 2018, Ben Simmons appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and participated in a little fun game during the show.
The production prepared a supersized basketball and rim for Simmons and he just had to make his first attempt.
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While the mechanics of the game sounded very easy and considering it was almost impossible to miss a shot with a basketball and rim that size, Simmons still bricked it.
The live audience was rooting for him the entire time and upon realizing he let them down, Simmons ran quickly towards the massive basketball and sank a follow-up shot.
Online fans trolled Simmons
Ben was told that if he makes the shot, everybody in the crowd would get a free ticket for some upcoming event at the time. Even though he awfully missed the first shot, Kimmel and the producers were considerate enough to still give away free tickets to the audience.
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While the game ended positively, some online fans who have watched the clip on YouTube did not let Simmons slide for bricking such an easy shot. They unsurprisingly trolled Ben in the comments section.
“He can’t make a jump shot with a regular ball and you want him to make it with that????,” a fan wrote.
“That is the most Ben Simmons play ever,” another fan remarked.
“He can’t even make a shot with a regular-sized ball,” a fan said.
“What’s the difference between Ben Simmons and a toothpick? A toothpick has two points,” another fan added.
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Simmons is still being criticized for not playing and bricking
As the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons presented a promising career ahead of him. He started out great and was even named an All-Star three times in his first four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons possessed a remarkable set of skills, such as defending, playmaking and slashing to the rim.
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However, shooting wasn’t one of them.
All of a sudden, Ben’s relationship with the Sixers soured in 2021. Instead of joining the team at training camp, he opted for a holdout because of a contract dispute and did not play for the entire 2021-22 season. Amidst the ordeal, Simmons was being brutally criticized by both the fans and media.
“Well, I’m disappointed in Ben Simmons,” Charles Barkley said at the time. “When you give somebody $200M to dribble a stupid basketball and the only thing you asked him was be better as a player and their first response is, ‘I don’t wanna play here anymore,’ that disappoints me as a player. It disappoints me as a fan. They’re not saying, ‘Hey, come over here and cut my grass.’ They’re saying, ‘Ben, we need you to learn how to shoot the basketball,” he pointed out before continuing.
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“Don’t be putting pictures on your Instagram of your Ferrari or what actress you’re hanging around with…they don’t give a s–t about none of that,” Shaquille O’Neal said of Simmons. “They want you to come work and play hard…you are hearing from some OGs right now. You ain’t that damn good.”
Simmons demanded to be traded and finally got what he wanted when the Sixers dealt him to the Brooklyn Nets in 2022. In the next three seasons, he became infamous for bricking shots.
It is yet to be known whether or not Ben could still move on from the embarrassment.
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However, the Los Angeles Clippers have given him a chance to redeem himself and he hasn’t looked bad there as an energy and a defense first guy last season.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.