It’s New Year’s Eve and the bizarre year of 2020 will not end without a fight. Something wild was inevitable when 2020 drew to a close, and the list of NBA contenders on Thursday did not disappoint. For the third time in his career, Ben Simmons exceeded all of our expectations and made another 3-point basket.
The move came just over eight minutes into the first quarter. The Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic were tied when Joel Embiid kicked the ball into the corner for Simmons. Without any hesitation, Simmons went up for the shot. Swish.
Don’t expect this to be the start of a trend. It was Simmons’ first 3-point attempt of the season, who is only 3 out of 25 behind his career arc. Of these 25 attempts, 10 were considered to be raised, which means that he attempts a 3-point attempt every 15 games or more.
Doc Rivers publicly supported Simmons in his refusal to shoot 3s, and earlier in the season, he didn’t have to. Philadelphia is on track for a 4-1 record and Simmons is among the NBA’s best defensive players and distributors. The version of him that can shoot would be unstoppable, but he is perfectly effective, even when he takes the shots intermittently. As appropriate as a new attitude for the new year is, don’t expect Simmons to become Stephen Curry anytime soon.