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For many Philadelphia 76ers fans who have waited to nearly the All-Star break of the 2018-19 NBA season for Ben Simmons to shoot a 3-pointer, the time finally arrived. The anticipation of Simmons’ first attempt from deep of the season drew at least some level of attention in every game thus far. Unfortunately, when Simmons finally attempted a shot from beyond the arc, it not only wasn’t what everyone had hoped, but it also didn’t come close.
In Simmons’ defense, his 3-pointer was a runner from the midcourt logo that came during an attempt to beat the buzzer, as Rob Perez of The Action Network revealed.
Although the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year didn’t have an attempt from outside this season, he did attempt a few 3-pointers during his first season in the league. Last year, Simmons went 0-for-11 from beyond the arc, which is where the chatter of him being a poor shooter stems from. During his only collegiate season with the LSU Tigers, the Sixers star made 1-of-3 attempts over 33 games.
Although we’ve seen the Sixers star attempt a few jumpers this season, this is the first 3-point attempt, and not surprisingly, social media lost it with jokes and great reactions. Here’s a look at some of the best of the bunch.
Twitter Reacts to Ben Simmons’ First 3-Pointer of Season
Ben Simmons’ Sophomore Campaign
While NBA fans joke about Simmons and his lack of legitimate shot attempts from outside, it’s hard to ignore what the 22-year-old has done as an encore performance to his first season. Not including Saturday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets, Simmons has averaged 16.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 57.8 percent from the field.
Each of the current marks the Sixers star has posted come in higher than last year when he posted 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Simmons may not utilize a jumper all that often, but what he’s doing to this point has worked just fine.
Even going one step beyond that, the Sixers have had quite a bit of success this year. This includes the stretch when they were incorporating Jimmy Butler into the mix. Although there have been a few ups and downs following the team’s trade to acquire the All-Star guard, they’re 32-18 and sit as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. While Simmons has a talented group around him, he still deserves a decent amount of the credit for the recent success.
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