After a day out with their kids at Universal Studios Hollywood Friday, Bennifer got bicoastal, jetting to the Hamptons for some time away from their respective offspring.
Photos show Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez cuddling as they strolled Saturday on Long Island, their arms wrapped around each other and at times, nary an inch between them.
Affleck and Lopez went shopping following the cozy walk.Patriot Pics / BACKGRID
The pair recently returned to Lopez’ Hamptons estate following a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood.Patriot Pics / BACKGRID
The pair were in California with their kids the day before their snuggly day in the Hamptons.Patriot Pics / BACKGRID
Affleck, 48, was dressed in a tight white sweatshirt and brown khakis while Lopez, 51, had her hair down and wore a loose, long-sleeved top and comfortable looking beige bottoms. Both sported sneakers.
They walked with another, unnamed couple before heading off for some shopping.
The New York jaunt comes after the lovebirds were spotted at the California theme park with Lopez’ twins, Max and Emme, 13, and Affleck’s son, Samuel, 9.
Jake Paul wasn’t facing Nate Robinson this time, but a decorated MMA fighter, and the result was the same.
Paul, a YouTube sensation, knocked out Ben Askren in the first round of their Saturday night pay-per-view cruiserweight bout at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with a straight right hand to the head.
The Triller Fight Club event was televised on FITE.tv for $49.99, and the main-event bout lasted less than two minutes.
The stoppage was questionable. Askren, 36, wanted to continue, but referee Brian Stutts said he was not in the shape to fight and it was stopped at the 1:59 mark.
Askren — who has a 19-2-0 (one no contest) record in UFC — didn’t seem crushed after the loss. He was shown walking backstage smiling after the fight, and apparently was in good spirits after making $500,000 in disclosed pay for the bout, according to CBS Sports.
The 24-year-old Paul — a social media influencer who insists he’s a real boxer — hasn’t fought a professional yet, but this was his first victory over a pro fighter. He is now 3-0 with three knockouts with previous wins over Robinson and AnEsonGib, a fellow YouTuber.
Jake Paul celebrates after his first-round knockout win over Ben Askren.Getty Images for Triller
“This is the craziest moment of my life,” said Paul, who did pushups in the ring after the win. “I told y’all I was going to do it in the first round. I told y’all I’m a real fighter. I don’t know how many times I got to prove myself that this is for real.
“It’s been four months, I’ve been in training camp every day. I deserve this s–t. I don’t know how many times I have to prove myself that this is for real.
Paul, a showman who took a stunner from Kevin Owens in a WrestleMania 37 match last week, doesn’t have these top fighters quaking in their boots, judging by their reactions on Twitter.
Where did they find that referee? 😂 I’m done ✌🏾
— Badou Jack (@BadouJack) April 18, 2021
Why he doing push ups like me?
— Edgar Berlanga Jr (@EdgarBerlangaJr) April 18, 2021
Maybe @jakepaul vs the Winner of Lamar Odom vs Aaron Carter? 👀😂
— Eddie Chambers (@champfasteddie) April 18, 2021
Nate Robinson, who was panned for taking his fight with Paul, now actually has bragging rights for lasting the longest in the ring against the YouTube star. The former Knick and NBA slam-dunk champion was knocked out in the second round in their Nov. 28 bout.
MINNEAPOLIS — Ben Johnson arrived at Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle’s house already dressed for the job he was there to interview for.
Johnson wore a Gophers pullover, making a strong first impression. His first task as head coach of the men’s basketball team will be to persuade more Minnesota kids to put on that maroon and gold.
“We have great high school coaches, great AAU coaches and kids that have a good feel and know how to play basketball, so we’ve got to do our job within the state to keep those guys home,” said Johnson, who spoke at a socially distanced news conference on the team’s practice court on Tuesday, two days after he met with Coyle and university president Joan Gabel to present his vision for the program was previously part of as a player and an assistant.
Johnson, 40, was raised in Minneapolis, played for powerhouse DeLaSalle High School and spent two seasons at Northwestern before transferring to the Gophers in 2001. His coaching career took him from Dayton to Texas-Pan American to Northern Iowa to Nebraska to Minnesota, where he was on Richard Pitino’s staff for five years. He left for Xavier, where he spent the last three seasons.
When Pitino was fired last week with a 54-96 record in Big Ten play, Johnson quickly found himself on Coyle’s short list of potential replacements despite never being a head coach before.
“Every kid within the state, just like me, they need to be looking forward to one day playing at Williams Arena. They need to look forward to trying to become a Gopher and creating that energy and enthusiasm,” Johnson said.
Over five years at his post, Coyle has grown impatient with the lack of traction the program has had during a time when the high school talent in the state has never been higher.
Sure, the best local recruits went to destination programs like Duke or Gonzaga. Still, Colorado (McKinley Wright IV), Texas (Jericho Sims) and Wisconsin (Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers) were among the teams in this season’s NCAA Tournament with standout seniors from Minnesota.
“We look around the region and the number of kids that aren’t here. We are going to get them here,” said Coyle, who also had Brian Dutcher (San Diego State), Craig Smith (Utah State), Dennis Gates (Cleveland State) and Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) among others on his radar.
Pitino had some key in-state players, of course. Amir Coffey and Daniel Oturu now play for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers,and Johnson was a major reason why they chose to stay home. Shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur, the current team’s best defender, is another homegrown player.
With the Musketeers, Johnson also helped head coach Travis Steele sign consecutive top-30 recruiting classes the last two years.
“I’m not worried about the in-game stuff,” Coyle said “He knows how to ‘X’ and ‘O’ with anybody. He will learn how to do the timeouts. He will surround himself with a great staff.”
Johnson, who has a $1.95 million annual base salary and a five-year contract, picked patience when asked what he believes his greatest initial challenge will be. He named former Nebraska coach Tim Miles, Jacobson, Steele, Pitino among his many mentors. He then zeroed in on Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (26 seasons) and Purdue’s Matt Painter (16 seasons) as role models for identity and stability.
“You can tell Purdue players and Michigan State players. That’s going to be our goal. I want our fans to say, ‘That’s a Minnesota dude,'” Johnson said. “We take a ton of pride in our state and our program, and we’re not going to fail.”
Johnson also joins the athletic department at a time when every other head coach of Gophers sports is white. In a report published two weeks by the Star Tribune, Minnesota was found to be the only current Big Ten institution without a school president, athletic director or head coach of color.
Historically, Gophers hoops has been among the Big Ten leaders in that area. Since Wisconsin made Bill Cofield the conference’s first Black head men’s basketball coach in 1976, Michigan (Juwan Howard, Tommy Amaker and Brian Ellerbe) and Minnesota (Johnson, Tubby Smith and Clem Haskins) are the only programs who’ve had more than two.
Rutgers has had three Black head coaches over that time, with Eddie Jordan the most recent, but has only been in the Big Ten since 2014. Four teams have never had one. Excluding interim replacements, Johnson’s first year will mark the 22nd for the Gophers with Black leadership in the 46 seasons since Cofield’s landmark hire. The Wolverines will be next with 13.
“Guys like myself haven’t been afforded these opportunities in the past. That’s the elephant in the room, right? Our leadership has stepped up and has provided this platform for myself. Now it’s my job to do the best I can, and hopefully I can open doors for the next guy,” Johnson said. “I have a lot of friends that are very capable coaches. I was fortunate there was a lot of things that fell into place to put me in this position today, and I’m humbled by that, and I realize that. There’s a lot of guys that could be up here. I get that. I don’t think I’m a guy that thinks I have all the answers, but I do know I’m the right guy for this job.”
University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle announced today that Ben Johnson has been named head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota. The University and Johnson have agreed to a five-year term, pending the completion of a background check and Board of Regents approval.
Johnson, who graduated from Minnesota in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, returns to his alma mater after spending three seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach. Johnson previously served as an assistant coach at Minnesota from 2013-18 and was a two-time captain during his playing career for the Gophers.
“Ben is a proven coach who is ready to lead his own program,” said Coyle. “He has earned this opportunity and is a tremendous teacher, recruiter and relationship builder. I am thrilled for him to lead his alma mater, and I am excited for the future of our men’s basketball program.”
“Athletics is such an inviting “front porch” for so much of the great work we do here at the University. Few programs are more visible or closely followed than Gopher men’s basketball,” said University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel. “To have someone like Ben Johnson leading this program – an ambassador for our University who grew up here, went to school here and knows what the University is all about – is tremendous, for our basketball program and our institution. Like so many Minnesotans, I’m excited to welcome Ben home and look forward to our team’s success under his leadership.”
Johnson helped lead Xavier to consecutive top-30 recruiting classes in 2019 and 2020 and the Musketeers posted a collective record of 51-37 in three seasons with him on the bench.
“The University of Minnesota is such a special place and has impacted me in immeasurable ways on and off the court,” said Johnson. “I want to thank President Joan Gabel, Mark Coyle, Julie Manning and everyone involved in the search process for believing in me and trusting me to lead this historic program. I am ready to get to work.”
In his previous stint at Minnesota, Johnson helped recruit local standouts and current members of the Los Angeles Clippers organization Daniel Oturu and Amir Coffey to the Gophers. He also recruited current Gopher Gabe Kalscheur to the Maroon and Gold. Johnson was instrumental in recruiting and developing Jordan Murphy, who finished his career atop the Gopher record books in rebounds (1,307), free throws made (460), free throws attempted (698) and second in scoring (1,802 points).
Prior to returning to Minnesota in 2013, he spent one season as an assistant coach under Tim Miles at the University of Nebraska. While with the Huskers, Johnson assisted in all-day-to-day basketball-related duties while also serving as recruiting coordinator. Johnson also led the development of Nebraska’s backcourt players.
Johnson spent 2008-12 as an assistant coach at Northern Iowa. The Panthers went a combined 93-77 in that timeframe, winning at least 20 games in all four years. Northern Iowa reached postseason play in all four years and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009-10. That year, UNI won a school-record 30 games and upset top-seeded Kansas in the second round.During his tenure at UNI, the Panthers boasted three first-team All-MVC selections, including 2010 Missouri Valley Conference MVP Adam Koch in 2010. Four players were named to the MVC All-Freshmen or All-Newcomer teams, including a pair in 2011-12.
Prior to his stay at Northern Iowa, Johnson served as an assistant coach for two seasons at the University of Texas-Pan American. He was heavily involved in recruiting, worked with the Broncos perimeter players and coordinated UTPA’s summer camps.
Johnson’s coaching career began at the University of Dayton, where he served as a graduate assistant during the 2005-06 season.
Johnson started his collegiate playing career at Northwestern and played two seasons before returning to the Twin Cities to finish his career. He finished with 533 points in 59 games in Maroon and Gold and scored a total of 1,202 career points between the two Big Ten Conference institutions.
The Minneapolis native enjoyed a standout prep career, leading DeLaSalle High School to a pair of state championships. He was a two-time first-team all-state selection in both football and basketball, and as a senior, was named a Street & Smith All-American, as well as an honorable mention Nike All-American.
He was listed as the 60th-best basketball player in the country by Bob Gibbons in his senior season, totaling more than 2,200 points during his high school career. Johnson also was listed on Tom Lemming’s High School Football All-American list as a top-20 national recruit and was a two-time all-state performer on the gridiron.
Experience
2021-present: Head Coach, Minnesota
2018-21: Assistant Coach, Xavier
2013-18: Assistant Coach, University of Minnesota
2012-13: Assistant Coach, University of Nebraska
2008-12: Assistant Coach, Northern Iowa
2006-08: Assistant Coach, Texas-Pan American
2005-06: Graduate Assistant, University of Dayton
Jennifer Garner is getting candid about her divorce from Ben Affleck.
The 48-year-old actress recently spoke about her highly-publicized split from Affleck in 2015 and recalled the dream she thought she lost after the divorce.
“Going through it in public is not what’s hard, going through it is what’s hard, A,” she told the Hollywood Reporter for its latest cover issue about the divorce, which was finalized in 2018. “And B, my children’s eyes are on me.”
In a 2016 Vanity Fair interview following the split news, Garner lamented on “[losing] the dream of dancing with [her] husband at [her] daughter’s wedding” — but now that Garner and Affleck have successfully established solid co-parenting skills, the actress worries no more.
JENNIFER GARNER TALKS BODY CHANGES AFTER HAVING 3 KIDS, WHAT IT’S LIKE TO FEND OFF PREGNANCY RUMORS AT 48
Jennifer Garner knows now that she’ll be able to dance with Ben Affleck at her daughter’s wedding. (AP, File)
“When our kids get married, we’ll dance, I know that now,” Garner said. “We’ll boogaloo and have a great time. I don’t worry about that anymore.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Garner revealed how she helped her three children — Violet, 15, Seraphina, 12 and Samuel, 9 — process the publicity the couple received during her and Affleck’s time together.
BEN AFFLECK EXPLAINS HOW JENNIFER GARNER DIVORCE HELPED HIM PLAY MORE COMPLEX ROLES
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner split in 2015. Their divorce was finalized in 2018. (Reuters)
“When they were smaller and there were things out there that were shocking, my request to them was always, ‘Let Dad and I talk you through whatever it is,’” she said, alluding to controversial headlines of Affleck drinking, cheating and going to rehab.
“I’d tell them, ‘If you see an image on the front of a magazine, I’ll look at it with you and we’ll process all the scary feelings that come up together.'”
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Garner also spoke on how the media frenzy surrounding her family has put a strain on her children’s lives. (Reuters)
Garner also touched upon how the media frenzy put a strain throughout her children’s lives, noting that “it just put so much anxiety in our little family.”
‘We’d try to go and we’d just get chased away [by the camera scrum],'” Garner revealed. “And you’re not just ruining the experience for your family, you’re ruining it for everybody. It’s like, ‘Who wants to have us around?'”
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Garner also revealed that daughter Violet was kicked off her school’s soccer team due to the media circus that consistently followed.
The actress, however, revealed that her family was finally able to enjoy quality time outside during the coronavirus pandemic due to the anonymity that mask-wearing provides.
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid won’t play in Sunday night’s All-Star Game due to COVID-19 contact tracing, the NBA announced.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Sixers stars were in contact with a barber who tested positive for the coronavirus. Wojnarowski reported that the barber then returned an additional positive test.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who will coach the team drafted by Kevin Durant, told reporters it was “not looking great” for Simmons and Embiid to play in the game shortly before the league announced his two All-Stars would not participate. Simmons and Embiid’s scheduled media sessions were canceled.
“Extremely unfortunate,” Bulls All-Star guard Zach LaVine said. “From what I’ve heard, they did everything right. I think they had close contact with their barber, and the barber was getting tested daily. … It’s not like they were trying to hide it or they were doing something wrong. They did everything right and they still (were) in the wrong place at the wrong time. Extremely unfortunate and sad but I think, with the time that we live in right now, you can’t be too safe.”
As the NBA’s press release notes, Rivers and his Sixers coaching staff will still lead Team Durant Sunday night because no individuals besides Embiid and Simmons were exposed to the individual who tested positive in Philadelphia. The Pelicans’ Zion Williamson will replace Embiid as a starter, the league announced.
After announcing last November that this year’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis was postponed, the league decided to move forward with a game in Atlanta, Georgia, during the COVID-19 pandemic despite stars such as LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo not agreeing with the idea.
“I think, just in general, this All-Star Game is kind of forced and just thrown upon us,” James Harden said Sunday.
The Sixers had one postponed game in the first half of the season, a scheduled road matchup against the Thunder, due to contact tracing. The team was shorthanded for games on Jan. 9, Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 after Seth Curry tested positive for COVID-19 and other players were subsequently ruled out by health and safety protocols.
Next on the Sixers’ regular-season schedule is a March 11 game in Chicago against the Bulls. Up to 3,100 fans will be permitted to return to Wells Fargo Center for the Sixers’ March 14 game vs. the Spurs.
Simmons and Embiid’s statuses for those games are uncertain. Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Shake Milton missed three Sixers games between Jan. 7 and Jan. 14 after they, according to Rivers, sat at a table with Curry during a team meal.
Embiid, who’s positioned himself strongly in the MVP race, committed Saturday to donate his All-Star winnings of $100,000 to organizations that help combat homelessness in Philadelphia. The Sixers organization also matched his donation.
Both Embiid and Simmons expressed that they’d been looking forward to playing against the league’s top talent in Atlanta.
“I can never take those occasions for granted,” Embiid said Wednesday night. “It’s a great feeling to be part of the best players in the world. I’m just looking to go out there, stay safe — first thing — and just have fun in the best game in basketball.”
A source confirmed Sunday night to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark that Simmons and Embiid traveled back to Philadelphia after testing negative for COVID-19. The New York Times’ Marc Stein first reported the news.
The Steelers, fully aware that they may not have enough around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to justify bringing him back for another year, suddenly seem to be ambivalent about an ongoing relationship. So if (and it’s still a fairly big if) the Steelers decide to sever ties with Big Ben, he’ll become a free agent.
The question then becomes whether he’d continue his career with another team.
It’s a topic he’s never addressed. It’s a topic that, before Wednesday’s comments from G.M. Kevin Colbert, was never relevant. Now, it’s moving closer toward that category.
If Ben would be willing to explore another year or two with another team, the question then becomes whether another team would want him. Myles Simmons and I spitballed through the various options on Thursday’s PFT Live.
The only potentially viable options, now that the Colts are spoken for, would seem to be these: Jets, Patriots, Texans (if they trade Deshaun Watson), Broncos, Raiders (if they trade Derek Carr, which seems highly unlikely), Cowboys (if they let Dak Prescott walk), Washington, Bears, Panthers, Saints, 49ers, and Seahawks (if they trade Russell Wilson, which seems highly unlikely). That’s the broadest universe of arguably realistic possibilities.
Even then, it’s hard to imagine a land rush emerging for a quarterback who will be 39 on March 2.
Indeed, if it were believed that several teams would clamor for a quarterback who is due to make only $19 million this year, Colbert’s remarks from Wednesday would spark discussion about a potential trade of Roethlisberger. The fact that there’s been no such reports suggests that, if the Steelers cut Ben, the market may not be very robust.
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger is the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers right now, general manager Kevin Colbert said in a Wednesday news conference.
Beyond that, though, Colbert was lukewarm in his assessment of the franchise quarterback’s future with the organization.
“As we sit here today, Ben is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Colbert said. “… He reiterated that to us that he wants to continue to play, and we told him quite frankly we have to look at this current situation. … With Ben’s current cap number, some adjustment will have to be made.”
Team owner and CEO Art Rooney II told reporters last month that the soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback’s $41.2 million cap hit for the 2021 season was untenable. Later the same day, Roethlisberger told The Athletic he was willing to work with the team and said he didn’t “care ’bout my pay at all this year!”
Colbert placed emphasis on finding a solution that would benefit both the organization and the quarterback it drafted 11th overall in 2004.
“Ben Roethlisberger is on the team,” the general manager said Wednesday. “Ben Roethlisberger did a lot of really good things last year. We anticipate that he could still do some good things going forward.
“Hopefully there’s a way that we can try to figure out and do what’s best for the organization and do what’s best for Ben. Hopefully he’ll be able to see that and feel the same way we do. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, not only with Ben, with the whole unrestricted free-agent class and our whole cap situation as well.”
Colbert said the assessment of Roethlisberger’s future with the organization begins with the financial situation for the 2021 season. If Roethlisberger retires or is cut, he would still count $22.25 million against the cap. If the team opts to give him an extension and convert his base salary and roster bonus into a signing bonus spread out over multiple years, the most the team can reduce his cap hit to is $27.125 million. Though it’s not likely, Roethlisberger could also opt to play for the minimum and take a pay cut of $17.925 million, but his cap hit would still be $23.325 million.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to significantly lower the salary cap — though it can’t drop below $175 million — the Steelers are firmly in cap trouble. ESPN’s roster management system currently projects the Steelers to be over the cap by more than $22 million. The team must be cap-compliant by the start of the new league year on March 17.
“We were all dealt a loss through the pandemic, and we have to deal with that accordingly. And we will,” Colbert said. “It’s not unique to us. Two-thirds of the league is facing similar issues. How that all comes together in the next few weeks, we’ll continue to look at it.
“It is first and foremost financially because we have to be in compliance,” he added. “Then we’re making guesstimates as to what we can do to put the best team together for our sake and for Ben’s sake. What kind of team can he anticipate being around him if we decide we can move forward together.”
When Roethlisberger met with Steelers brass shortly after the season, the group agreed they would met again “down the road” once some other factors like available free agents and cap number became more clear. Colbert declined to say specifically if he has met with Roethlisberger since or when he will meet again to sort out the future.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Colbert said. “It just doesn’t involve him. It involves the players around him. I’m sure he’s going to want to see what type of team we can keep together under our current situation. Hopefully we can all make the correct adjustments to keep the group together as much as possible.”
In addition to figuring out Roethlisberger’s situation, Colbert admitted that re-signing any of the team’s 19 unrestricted free agents, such as wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, given the cap constraints will be difficult. But before they can truly evaluate free-agency options, the Steelers must determine the future of its quarterback.
“Going back on Ben’s 2020, he really did do some special things,” Colbert said. “In the beginning of the year, we talked about watching what he was doing because he was doing some incredible feats as we were building that 11-0 record. A lot of that was him performing in crucial times in games. Down the stretch, he didn’t play as good, but we didn’t play as good around him.
“Can he still do some special things? Absolutely. Did he do that to his expectations? I think he’d be the first to tell you, no. Ben cares about one thing: He cares about winning a Super Bowl. He’s no different than us. When it doesn’t happen, he’s never going to be satisfied. So hopefully whatever team we come up with in 2021, that will be a team that again we’re not talking about losing a first-round playoff game.”
Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert is not committing to bringing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back to Pittsburgh for the 2021 season.
The Steelers have previously made clear that Roethlisberger won’t be back without a restructured contract. Roethlisberger has said he’s willing to re-do his deal, but that might not be enough for the Steelers.
“As we sit here today, Ben is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Colbert said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “He reiterated to us that he wants to continue to play. We told him we have to look at this current situation.”
Colbert didn’t close the door on Roethlisberger returning, but he hinted that Roethlisberger would have to take a steep pay cut.
“Ben Roethlisberger did a lot of really good things last year. We anticipate that he could still do really good things going forward. Hopefully we can figure out how to do what’s best for the organization and for Ben. Hopefully he’ll be able to see that,” Colbert said.
Under his current contract, Roethlisberger has a massive $41.25 million cap hit for the 2021 season, and the Steelers are about $30 million over the cap. A decision will surely come before March 19, when, if he’s still on the team under his current contract, the Steelers would have to pay Roethlisberger a $15 million roster bonus.
Winston Churchill once said of Russia, “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” If there is an NBA equivalent to that quote, it is Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons.
There might not be a more confounding player in the NBA than Simmons. He has the size and strength of a center but plays with the speed and passing vision of a point guard. He can run and is able to guard all five positions on the court in a way that, arguably, no one else in the league can.
Yet at the same time, he won’t shoot 3-pointers — or often even midrange jump shots. And for all of the things he does to help winning, his fit offensively has become an endless source of debate in Philadelphia and beyond — especially playing alongside Sixers star center Joel Embiid.
Case in point: On Monday night, with Embiid a late scratch due to back tightness, Simmons lined up at center for the Sixers at the Utah Jazz, the team with the best record in the NBA.
So what did Simmons do? Have the best game of his career, putting up a career-high 42 points to go with nine rebounds and 12 assists — all while not taking a single shot outside the paint.
Ultimately, the Jazz prevailed, beating the Sixers 134-123 to claim the 19th victory in their past 20 games.
The story, however, was Simmons playing with the kind of aggression Sixers fans rarely see.
“I mean, if you put it that way, probably not,” Simmons said with a smile, when asked if he has ever been that aggressive offensively in his NBA career.
“There’s nights where I feel like I am dominant but it may not look like a 40-point game. I might have a triple-double and we might win by 20, whatever the case is. It might be on defense. [But] yeah, I definitely had to pick up the slack with Joel out.”
Simmons is right. His game is so often about doing things that don’t show up in the box score, be it the way he is able to lock down elite scorers on the other teams or set up his teammates for wide open 3-pointers.
But the reason Monday’s performance was so eye-opening is that, despite his prodigious physical gifts, Simmons rarely imposes his will on the game like he did against the Jazz, particularly in the first quarter. As Philadelphia raced out to a 42-35 lead, Simmons finished the quarter with 19 points and four assists, and he either scored or created 12 of Philadelphia’s 16 baskets.
Through his first 24 outings this season, Simmons had scored at least that many points in an entire game three times. On Monday night, he did it in the first 12 minutes — all while going up against Jazz center Rudy Gobert and, at times, by scoring right over the league’s best defensive player.
“We anticipated, once Joel was scratched, we were trying to create a lineup where Gobert would guard Ben,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “That happened, and the key for us was getting stops and getting it to Ben and getting it up the floor.
“It just felt there was no way anybody was going to stay with him, especially a center. So I thought Ben handled that very well.”
Monday’s loss was the third straight for Philadelphia, which still remains on top of the Eastern Conference thanks to recent struggles from the other contenders. But in those three losses, Simmons has slowly looked to be more aggressive offensively. While that was clearly the case in Salt Lake City, he scored 23 points in Thursday’s loss at the Portland Trail Blazers — his previous season high — and followed that up with 18 points in Saturday’s loss at the Phoenix Suns.
Simmons had only scored as many as 18 points in a game twice all season before the Portland game. Now, he has done so in three straight.
And according to Simmons, that trend isn’t an accident.
“Honestly, I’ve been working on my mentality, my mental [game], a lot these past few weeks,” Simmons said. “I think my mindset … it’s not easy to do that, to change the way you play or certain things in the game that come natural to certain people.
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Ben Simmons flushes a powerful jam as part of his career-best 19 points in the opening quarter.
“I feel like I’m figuring it out. Obviously, my scoring has been a lot higher the past five, six games. So as long as I can keep doing that and stay locked in and keep working on my mental [game], I think it’s scary.”
Over the past few seasons, there has been endless scrutiny of Simmons’ game — including the lack of a jump shot or the times he will disappear within Philadelphia’s offense.
As a result, nights like Monday, when Simmons was the best player on the floor, are all the more puzzling. Why, if he’s able to do this one evening, is he unable to do so more regularly? His previous coach, Brett Brown, openly pleaded with him to shoot 3-pointers. And he did — about once a month. Rivers has gone the other way.
The obvious question, in the wake of Monday’s performance — and Embiid’s absence — is whether Simmons can produce like this when playing alongside the league’s best interior scorer. According to Philly forward Tobias Harris, Simmons delivered that performance because the Sixers needed him to.
“Ben’s a guy, he pretty much evaluates the game as he’s playing, and you could see it immediately at the beginning of the game: He knew he could get by those guys with his speed. And we just started finding different ways to get him involved,” Harris said.
“I saw him working on some things, and that was getting in the post and using his body down there that probably aren’t as busy as him and shooting over them. It’s just an evolution of his game continuing to come together game after game, and he also just had that mindset today.”
“He wanted to do whatever he could to help us win tonight,” Harris explained. “And that was it, more than anything.”
For the Sixers to be a championship-level team, they’ll need the version of Simmons that showed up against the Jazz to be there when he is playing alongside Embiid. Before Monday night, however, it was unclear if Simmons was capable of putting up this kind of performance.
Now that he has done so, the question shifts to when — or if — he will do it again. So it goes for the NBA’s ultimate enigma.