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NBA star Ben Simmons has opted to pursue a career in professional fishing to push back a potential return to top-level basketball.
The 29-year-old has become a team owner in the Sport Fishing Championship (SFC) to run South Florida Sails.
The (SFC) showcases professional offshore saltwater fishing with 16 elite angling clubs, and was founded in 2021.
A three-time NBA All-Star (2019–2021), Simmons last played in the league on 13 April for the LA Clippers against the Golden State Warriors, concluding a short stay in California on a minimum $1.1m one-year contract.
A nine-year career in the NBA has seen Simmons pocket $203m in career earnings after making his name with the Sixers after being drafted in 2016.
And after moving on to the Nets in 2022, Simmons joined the Clippers last year.
“I don’t think there’s any point in just wasting a spot just to be out there,” Simmons added when quizzed over a return this season.
“I think that’s a little selfish. … But I want to get to the best of my ability and physical peak to compete. Otherwise, it doesn’t really serve me any purpose.
“I’m looking maybe halfway through this year, if not next season.”
Simmons has showcased his passion for the sport on social media and admitted it can be “tedious and gritty” but underlined how it is ultimately “a lot of fun.”
open image in gallery
Ben Simmons playing for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Oklahoma City Thunder in March earlier this year (Getty Images)
“It’s a very niche sport,” Simmons told Andscape. “And if you don’t know, you don’t know. But once you experience it and get out there and see what it’s about, you’re kind of in awe of what the sport is.
And that’s just something I’ve always been interested in in terms of the sport of fishing. The technique. And there’s so much to it that people just don’t understand.
“These guys are fishing on million-dollar vessels, and they’re out for days at a time. So, it’s tedious and gritty, but a lot of fun. It’s one of those worlds where you just got to kind of experience it, get into it and see what it’s about.”