The matches go by and still no Ben Simmons with the Philadelphia Sixers. It’s hard to say when he will be able to return, but in the meantime all the specialists and former players follow one another to give him advice. After Scottie Pippen yesterday who would like to see him be inspired by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Isiah Thomas has another model to recommend to the Boomer.
“I would absolutely get Ben Simmons back in a trade. For me, Ben Simmons is not a broken player. He was their best defender. He was All-Star. And he was their best passer. Now, Ben Simmons’ problem isn’t that he can’t shoot, it’s that he can’t put free throws while he’s a playmaker. As a playmaker, a leader team, if Ben Simmons becomes a better shot shooter, he will shoot 19 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and then no one would have a problem with him. He has to go to the gym and work his free throws. If he becomes a better shot shooter, he will score 4-5 more points on average and he can play low, put up layups, go to the pitch line, just like another player who was Shaq’s idol. and who couldn’t shoot. His name is Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson was shooting free throws all summer. I had trained with him one summer. We were working on our moves, we were doing all that flashy stuff, and he was shooting free throws all summer. We were running, doing sprints, our workouts, and then he was shooting free throws. We asked him why he wasn’t working on his game, he was like: ‘I’m working on my game.’ Like, carry on with your bullshit (laughs). The following season he was MVP, because he went to the pitch line 8 times per game. He became a 90% shot shooter and improved his points average from like 16 to 19-20. That’s why he became an MVP, because he became a better shot shooter. If Ben Simmons becomes a better shooter, this whole thing is over.
We still have to qualify all this a bit since Magic Johnson, even if he was not a great shooter, has always been a good shooter. In his first season in the league, he returned 81% (56% for Ben Simmons). He then had two seasons at 76%, then he effectively progressed constantly in the field to finally become quite simply the best throwing shooter in the whole league in 1988-89 by turning at 91%! Over the last 3 years before his retirement, he was at 90.2%!
“I would absolutely trade for Ben Simmons…”
Isiah Thomas sees similarities between Ben Simmons’ struggles and Magic Johnson’s rise to MVP of the league. He shares his thoughts on #TheBigPodcast: https://t.co/Q492TDvciz pic.twitter.com/jcFLbgm3wt
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 12, 2021
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