These days, Ben Simmons wakes up with a newfound appreciation for simply being able to stand up straight.

It has been years since the 29-year-old former No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick and three-time All-Star has played at a level commensurate with his early accolades, and there’s no shortage of explanations for the downward trend in Simmons’ career. Is his poor outside shooting the root of all the problems? Did he somehow lose his confidence? Could it all be fixed by shooting with his right hand?

Those theories are all debatable, but according to Simmons persistent back injuries halted his development. In an interview with The Athletic, Simmons described his ailing back as “one of those things where you’re dealing with it every day, sitting down, going to sleep, flying on planes.”

“People don’t understand that,” he said.

Over his nine years in the league, Simmons has missed 273 games. Over the last four seasons, he’s been available to play in just one-third of his teams’ games. In 2024-25, he played 51 total games for the Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers, averaging 5 points and 22 minutes per game. Throughout the year, Simmons said he often felt only “20 or 30 percent” healthy. At times, he said he could barely stand up straight on the mornings before games.

Tired of playing hurt, Simmons said he decided against signing with another NBA team in the offseason, opting instead for an extended rehab effort meant to restore his health in time to return to the league either later this season or before the 2026-27 campaign.

“I’m about to be 30 years old, and I need to make the best decision for Ben Simmons,” he said. “It’s not fun going out there, not being able to move, not be able to jump, or, you know, take hits. There’s no fun in that. Sometimes you got to make a decision with how you feel and what’s best for yourself. And that’s what I’ve done, and it’s not for everybody to really understand, because they’re not in my shoes.”

Ben Simmons recently purchased an ownership stake in a Sports Fishing Championship team. (Courtesy of Emily Bush)

Before he attempts another comeback, Simmons said he is training in Los Angeles with the goal of becoming “bulletproof” to avoid further setbacks. He also said his shot finally feels good and that he can now take a simple hook shot without any discomfort.

Injuries, of course, weren’t the only reason Simmons’ career stalled. After the Philadelphia 76ers denied his trade request before the 2021 season, Simmons skipped training camp and wound up missing the entire season. The organization continuously fined him for missing practices and games, and he eventually informed the team that he wasn’t mentally ready to play and needed time to step away. The Sixers finally traded him to the Nets in February 2022, but Simmons didn’t return to the court until the following season.

While Simmons said he sometimes wishes he had “done that or said this” at certain points in his career, he’s trying to move on from his mistakes. The public perception of him has deteriorated along with his performance. Former NBA player Theo Pinson called Simmons a “laughingstock” on a podcast, and Shaquille O’Neal has criticized Simmons for “not showing up” in Philadelphia.

Simmons’ social media posts are littered with comments about his inability to shoot and jokes about the infamous play where he passed up a wide-open dunk late in the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Ben Simmons has loved fishing since he was a child, starting with fishing from his childhood home in Australia. (Courtesy of Emily Bush)

The jeers grew louder a couple of days before Christmas, when the Sports Fishing Championship announced that Simmons had purchased an ownership stake in one of the team-fishing league’s franchises, the South Florida Sails Angling Club.

“I get comments every day and people laugh, or whatever it is, and put comments or whatever about fishing, and I’m like, ‘You don’t even know,'” he said. “Like, I’m from Australia. I was born and raised Australian. I love being in the water.”

Simmons grew up around the water in Newcastle, New South Wales, a port city about 105 miles north of Sydney on the South Pacific coast. He said that as a child, he’d often fish off the shore near his childhood home. He described fishing as an “outlet” away from basketball, saying he’s a completely different person when he’s on the water.

His love for fishing aligned with an investment opportunity in the SFC. The league, founded in 2021, has several celebrity investors including professional golfers Scottie Scheffler and Talor Gooch, NASCAR driver Austin Dillon, NFL running back Raheem Mostert and country singer Brian Kelley. SFC commissioner Mark Neifeld told The Athletic he hopes the SFC can become the “PGA Tour” of fishing.

Simmons is serious about growing the angling league. He volunteered to join the SFC’s competition committee and told Neifeld when the two first met that he intended to “build a championship organization with the South Florida Sails.”

“Being a part of what we were building with Sports Fishing Championship is going to be a legacy project for Ben Simmons,” Neifeld said. “He’s at the point of his life where he gets to determine what his next chapters are going to be, and this is something he’s wildly passionate about.”

Simmons has no plans to compete in SFC events, but he did say he wants to bring his former teammate Kawhi Leonard out on the water, and that someday he’d like to go fishing with Houston Rockets center Steven Adams.

Simmons will turn 30 on July 20. Whether he spends his 30s with a basketball or a fishing rod remains to be seen.