The 28-year-old No. 1 pick, with an annual salary of 40 million, and an average of only 0.8 points per game. How long can the NBA tolerate him?

Who is the owner of the NBA's No. 1 garbage contract?

There are still many debates about this issue over the past few seasons, Westbrook, Wall, etc., but now, Ben Simmons seems to be the only option.

Looking at Simmons' performance this season, he has an annual salary of 40 million yuan, averaged only 5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. In the playoffs, he was even more insidious, averaging only 8.5 minutes of playing time, and his data plummeted to 0.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. This summer, Simmons will become a free agent. With his current form, will NBA teams trust him?

From All-Star to Water Dispenser Manager, why did Simmons fall to this point? Next, let’s analyze it in detail.

The shooting problem has always been an unavoidable topic, and Simmons' "fear of shooting" has reached an unparalleled level. So far in his career, he has made 34 three-point shots, hit 5 goals, and his free throw shooting percentage is only 58%. Such poor spatial attributes make Simmons seem out of place in today's era. Data shows that in the 22-23 season, the average number of three-point shots per game in the NBA is 47% higher than in the 15-16 season. Almost all players at positions have included three-point shots in the conventional arsenal.

Look at Antetokounmpo, the Greek Monster's three-point shooting percentage in the first four years of his career was only 27%, but after systematic training, his three-point shooting percentage has stabilized at about 34%. Not only that, Antetokounmpo also developed a back-to-back singles technology. In the championship season, he relied on a stable near-frame shooting and shot down the Phoenix Suns. In contrast, Simmons, let alone three-pointers, accounts for only 3.7%. In offense, his presence can easily make his team fall into a 4-to-5 situation.

Another data shows that when Simmons is on the court, his team's three-pointers will drop by 8.6%, and his offensive efficiency will also drop by 4.2 points. In today's era, Simmons is tantamount to tactical poison.

Of course, if it was just a shooting issue, Simmons would not be on the bench, at least he had defense, rebounds, and accurate long passes.

Emerson once said: Confidence is the first secret to success. Unfortunately, Simmons has already lost this kind of thing. In the 7th Game of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in 21, Simmons did not take a shot against the open slot, but passed the ball to his teammates who had not had a good chance. With the team being eliminated, he was also pushed to the forefront. For Simmons, it was not the first day he played like this. More importantly, he relied on this style of play to win the NBA No. 1 pick, selected as an All-Star, and received a maximum salary of over 100 million yuan, attracting countless fans to pursue it.

But now, his core skills are questioned, and Simmons is trapped in self-doubt. If it were other stars, they might stand up and refute and prove themselves again with their performance on the court, but Simmons chose to escape.

sports psychologist Jonah Fish once analyzed and concluded that Simmons has a strong avoidance mechanism, which will cause his training quality to decline significantly. Former 76ers assistant coach Billy Lange once revealed that Simmons' average training time per day is only 2.5 hours, only half of the others, and the proportion of three-point training is less than 10%. An internal report from the Nets also wrote that Simmons's recovery training intensity is only 70% of the team's average level.

Talents are just tickets to enter, and continuous cashing can only remain unbeaten in the fierce competition.

In addition to these, injuries are also one of the reasons for Simmons' decline in condition. In 2020, he suffered a lumbar nerve compression injury. Since it was not a trauma, no one cared too much. But in fact, Simmons was seriously injured. His lumbar L4-L5 was congenital abnormality and had to undergo surgery. Although his recovery was good, his core strength was seriously damaged, which also affected his speed to a certain extent and the ending success rate of the inside line. Data shows that Simmons' breakthrough speed dropped from the peak 6.2m/s to 5.4m/s, and there was also a nerve reflex test, ranking in the last 15% of the league, which also directly led to a sharp decline in Simmons' defensive ability.

has no shooting ability, but now he loses confidence and defense. If you were a coach, what kind of tactics would you draw for him?

To talk about something off topic, Simmons' attention may not be on the field. With a total salary of more than 203 million in his career, he also has 14 startups under his name, covering multiple fields, and the returns are very considerable. He played for the 76ers. Before a playoff game, he went to participate in the opening ceremony of his own industry, which made the team and his teammates very dissatisfied. For a long time, Simmons was away from the team and rarely participated in internal communication and discussion.

So, when Rivers and Embiid suddenly pointed the finger at Simmons, the outside world didn't even know what was going on, but in fact, this seed of contradiction had long been planted in the team, and everyone felt that Simmons lacked the professional spirit that should have. The fall of Simmons is a tragedy of the combined effect of talent, environment and choice. He not only suffered a dimensional reduction blow from the NBA's tactical revolution, but also missed a good opportunity for transformation due to his personal choice. When projection defects, psychological disorders, and physical loss form a death triangle, the former genius teenager eventually becomes a system abandoned child, this may be the cruelest survival rule in professional sports.