Ben Simmons opens up about the infamous non-dunk, his Sixers career, and more in ESPN documentary
Simmons' Sixers career is explored in depth, as are his forays into fishing and the former No. 1 overall pick's return to the NBA this season.
Following the 76ers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, a reporter asked coach Doc Rivers whether Ben Simmons can be the point guard on a championship team.
“I don’t know that question or the answer to that right now,” Rivers responded. “So I don’t know the answer to that.”
Simmons, the All-Star point guard on the No. 1-seeded Sixers, struggled in the series and infamously passed out of a potential dunk in the closing moments of the Sixers’ Game 7 loss. In Being Ben, an ESPN documentary, the Hawks series and Rivers’ controversial response is explored in full. Five years later, it seems that Rivers’ words were the final straw for Simmons, who requested a trade in the ensuing offseason.
“How did I feel? I was like, ‘What a piece of ‘s—,’” Simmons said in the documentary.
Simmons added: “When you have a relationship with somebody and they have your back, I think certain things are supposed to be handled certain ways. But then you also gotta look at it from the side of ‘he’s got a job.’ You know, he’s making his money. He ain’t trying to lose his job or anything like that. So, when times get tough, people start panicking. People throw people under the bus, and that’s just — it’s just what happened.”
Being Ben debuts at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN. The documentary depicts Simmons’ basketball career, starting when he first picked up the game as a kid in Australia. It features interviews with Rivers, Simmons’ Sixers teammate Danny Green, former Sixers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, and more figures from Simmons’ past and present.
Simmons’ meteoric rise and ensuing fall with the Sixers is examined in detail in the documentary, which takes a look at Simmons’ shooting woes. The ambidextrous guard never developed a reliable jump shot while in Philadelphia. Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 and the 2017-18 Rookie of the Year, has a free-throw percentage of 59.2% through his seven NBA seasons and has made just five three-pointers. While Rivers and other coaches in Simmons’ corner defended his lack of shooting, Green believes it hurt his overall development.
“When you’re a young player, you’re a franchise guy, they’re building something around you, you gotta step outside the box and try to grow,” Green said.
» READ MORE: Former Sixer Ben Simmons remains unsigned. His legend wasn’t supposed to end this way.
The documentary also touches on Simmons’ year away from basketball and his journey back to the court.
In May, the South Florida Sails — a professional fishing team owned by Simmons — placed first in the Sports Fishing Championship league’s 2026 Walker’s Cay Open. For Simmons, fishing became a way to separate himself from basketball while he rehabbed from nagging back injuries. It also allowed him to take a mental break.
Being Ben finishes with a glimpse into Simmons’ return to the NBA. In September, Simmons signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. Last week, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears reported that Simmons, over a year removed from the NBA, is expected to start for the Kings on opening night.
After an exciting Sixers offseason highlighted by the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, join Inquirer beat writers Gina Mizell and Chris Hine for a preview of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
