On March 11, the Nets will challenge the 76ers in Philadelphia, facing his old club for the first time since ben Simmons traded, and although he is still unable to play, he is expected to watch from the bench.
This may be a historic moment in Simmons' career.
Before talking about Simmons, let's tell a little story.
In the 1984 Finals, "Magic" Johnson shot 5 of 14, made 7 mistakes, and was snatched by Dennis Johnson of Celtics at the crucial moment, and the Lakers lost that game and lost the championship.
The game was held in Boston, after the Game, the Lakers would just board the bus before they could start driving out of the stadium, and the crazy celebrating Celtics fans surrounded the car, insulting the "Magician" and other Lakers players, throwing debris into the window, and some people pushed the car, and the Lakers players were scared and curled up in their seats until the police arrived to disperse the crowd.
"That scene was so terrifying, losing the seven has made our nerves close to collapse, this scene has frightened everyone even more, we are surrounded, we can't get out for a long time, we can only endure all this." The magician said.
Back in the hotel room, "Magician's" friend wanted to go in with him and comfort the psychologically battered Lakers star, but "Magician" refused their kindness and suffered everything in silence.
"That night, I cried like a baby." The magician said.
When the Lakers return to Los Angeles, they are greeted not by warm comfort, but by the sneers of Celtic fans. The "magician" did not dare to go out for three days, when he plucked up the courage to go outside, he was greeted by a car, driven by a man wearing a Lakers jersey, he yelled at the "magician": "You are a parallel cargo!" ”
Even back in Michigan, the "magician" still couldn't escape, and anyone who met him would ask, "How did you lose to the Celts?" What the hell is wrong with you? ”
The deep sense of shame stimulated the "magician", who worked hard that summer, focusing on strengthening his physical fitness and shooting, because the intensity was too great, he would be sore at the end of each day's training, and the discomfort of his muscles made it difficult for him to even fall asleep, but the "magician" persevered, he longed for revenge, eager to silence the doubters.
A year later, "Magician" led the Lakers to meet with the Celtics again in the division finals, this time "Magician" did not let the opportunity slip away from the hands, the Lakers 6 games to solve the battle, in the sixth game of the championship, "Magician" handed over 14 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists triple-double report card, a shame before the snow.
"Looking back now, the defeat of '84 was a good thing for the magician, spurring him to be a better version of himself, dispel the specter of failure, and get more victories." Lakers head coach Riley said.
The reason why the "magician" basketball god is moved out is because Simmons has the title of "little magician" before entering the NBA, all of which are tall, and can give you the effect of attacking in the wrong position anytime and anywhere, faster than him, faster than him, not as tall as he is, good at organizing offense, watching six ways to listen to the eight directions, defensive counterattack to lead people to the top of the ball.
Before the 2016 draft, using "magician" as a template for Simmons' development was barely justified, after all, "West Emperor" had unlimited talent and potential, but now if Simmons is compared with "magician", it is simply an insult to the Lakers.
The difference between Simmons and the "magician", in addition to the shooting technique (the magician is not a top shooting master, but he is still much better than Simmons, and the one-handed small hook is a classic) and the creativity of the game, the most obvious difference is the psychological quality, if the "magician" experienced in 1984 on Simmons, guess what he would do?
Leaving the 76ers has given us the answer.
Why did Simmons have to go? Even at the expense of 20 million in wages (there are reports that Simmons will file a complaint against 76 people to get the money back, and this time to Philadelphia is also for this reason). The 76ers management and coaching staff were puzzled by this until they met with Him for the first time since the official transfer in August last year, when Simmons told the 76ers that he had made up his mind on the grounds that the team did not "protect" him, make him ugly in public, and did not help him save face afterwards.
Simmons said that the ugliness is the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals to grab the seventh, Simmons played in 36 minutes and only shot 4 times to get 5 points, 3 minutes and 29 seconds before the end, the 76ers trailed by two points, Simmons got a good chance to score under the basket, obviously the dunk was finished, but chose to pass, the 76ers home was full of boos. After the game, Embiid publicly stated that the ball was the turning point of the game, and Rivers confessed that he did not know whether Simmons could play the role of champion team organizer.
According to Simmons' understanding, the 76ers should not give him the ball at a critical moment, and teammates and coaches should not support him after the game, but instead insinuate to him, he can't stand this, he must change the environment.
This sounds a bit strange, which star has not experienced failure, which star has not been scolded, why is Simmons so self-protective?
Simmons has been like this since he was a child, he is the youngest child in the family, because of his excellent basketball talent, he is the focus of the family's protection, and even the most basic tidying up clothes are made by his brothers. After Simmons came to the United States, he had a team behind him to provide support, the advantages were magnified, and the shortcomings were covered up.
Before the 2016 draft, neither NBA team managers nor professional scouts had seen Simmons' shooting training, and a senior scout had rushed to the scene three hours before louisiana State (Simmons' alma mater) game against Marquette University began, just to see Simmons warm-up practice, Simmons saw the scout coming, immediately packed up his things and returned to the locker room.
That game, Simmons's team lost 1 point, in a showdown moment, Simmons twice passed the ball out, but after the game to look at his data, 21 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, the typical "team lost I did not lose", this talent, this kind of data, if you have a champion will not choose?
"The people behind Simmons, he was very well protected, and the things that were not conducive to his draft, we couldn't see." A coalition insider said.
Simmons could be directly talented in high school and college, but not in the NBA. The 76ers quickly realized that Simmons' projection shortcomings would dig holes for the team, so they recommended the famous shooting trainer John Townsend to Simmons, and "West Emperor" practiced with Townsend for a while, and the effect was good, but it didn't take long for Simmons to end the partnership.
A person familiar with the matter revealed that Simmons' decision was due to his discomfort with Townsend reporting the training to the 76ers and his reluctance to train under team supervision, so he replaced Townsend with Treb.
Who is Treb? It is Simmons's brother, practicing with his brother, it is relaxed, but the result is that the three points are not practiced, the penalty is getting worse and worse, and then the mentality becomes more and more fragile, and gradually moves to the stage of escaping in case of difficulties.
The 2021 seven-game is a sign of Simmons's break with the 76ers, that game Simmons originally did not want to play, he said before the game that he had contact with a massage therapist suspected of being infected with the new crown, many people in the team suspected that Simmons lied, his real reason is that the performance of 6 of 18 of 10 free throws in the first two games of 10 shots has collapsed to his mentality, and he dare not fight for life and death.
Although because the test result was negative, Simmons still played the seventh game hard, but he was not in the state at all, so there was that famous scene that did not have to be passed.
Simmons's fundamental problem is not technology, but psychology, shooting this thing to reach curry's level, it does require a high talent, but if you aim to qualify, a good trainer with hard work, can be achieved. The objective conditions of training are obviously not a problem for Simmons, what he lacks is subjective initiative, simply the refusal to step out of his comfort zone, which the people around him know best.
"I like the way I play well, and sometimes it can be a bit of a development obstacle because if you want to break the bottleneck you have to make some changes, even if you may fail." Simmons' brother Sean said.
From Simmons's point of view, he stays in the "greenhouse", can also enter the All-Star, get a big contract, and live a beautiful life, but from a basketball point of view, he can do better, if he fails to do it, it is more or less a pity. Look at the alphabet brother, the same body monster, hard honors have been taken, but also constantly improve their shortcomings, even if he is not an elite shooter now, at least the progress is clearly visible, and the career starting point is much higher than the letter brother Simmons, has been in the same place.
The 76ers can't stand Simmons' insincere, how long can the Nets endure?
Simmons decides the cap on the Nets, which the team bought with Harden and is one of the big three puzzles. The Nets can't expect Simmons to become Harden, that's unrealistic, but if Simmons can take a small step out of the "greenhouse," the Nets could take a big step forward, after all, he is younger than Harden, has a better defense, and there is still room for potential.
Simmons will go to Philadelphia with the team, and if there is no accident, he will be greeted by a full of boos and even insults, and Simmons will go, which is not a small improvement in terms of his psychological level.
"I think he's ready, he knows what's going to happen when he gets back there, and it's good for him to be brave enough to face it all." Nets head coach Nash said.
To say that back to the old home to face the predicament, who is better than James, who wore a hot jersey, faced thousands of people in the Cavaliers Arena, did not also carry it, did not have the psychological endurance of honor and humiliation, and what star?
From basketball giant baby to basketball superstar, if Simmons still has ambitions to achieve this leap, start with this ball on March 11.
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