The Australian basketball head coach recently discussed Ben Simmons and his potential participation with the Australian Boomers for the upcoming 2023 FIBA World Cup. As some fans might be aware, Simmons is from the continent of Australia. He was born in Melbourne and even represented his country in the Under 17 FIBA tournament.
With several players from the NBA participating for their national teams, one would assume that Simmons was intending to do the same. However, Brian Goorjian, the head coach for the Australian team, indicated that Simmons’ participation with his national team is quite unlikely.
This is quite puzzling since we are in the midst of a long off-season. Let us take a better look at the situation and find out more.
Will Ben Simmons play for Australia?
It is truly quite sad to see the player that Ben Simmons has been reduced to in recent times. Upon being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, Simmons was seen by some as the next LeBron James. He possessed incredible speed and strength with the addition of excellent passing and court vision.
However, something went wrong during his final year with the 76ers and Simmons has never been the same since then. He seems to be a lesser version of himself, displaying lesser aggressiveness and confidence than ever before. Even after being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Ben was reduced to a bench player due to his issues.
It was recently reported that the Nets star was not going to play with Australia since he is in the middle of rehabilitating his back injury. Although one could claim that a lesser version of Simmons would still help the Australian team, Brian Goorjian has made it clear that he is not going to go out of his way to recruit Ben.
“I’m not recruiting you. It’s important for the country [to know], we’re not going, ‘please, Ben, please, we don’t have anything if you don’t play’. We’re not like that at all.”
Australia’s head coach Brian Goorjian says he’s not going to beg Ben Simmons to play for the national team
“I’m not recruiting you. It’s important for the country [to know], we’re not going, ‘please, Ben, please, we don’t have anything if you don’t play’. We’re not like that at… pic.twitter.com/yTEoxD9KEN
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 11, 2023
While it already looked like the Brooklyn Nets have given up on Simmons, no one expected his own national team to do the same. We hope that his rehabilitation is going well. Hopefully, he is able to make a return to the court and prove his doubters wrong.