[Lowlight] 5 years ago Ben Simmons passes up a wide open dunk.
And therapists have been banking ever since
We were meme’ing and laughing at this in the moment, thinking it was just a brain fart. Little did we know that we actually watched a man’s career die in real time.
The other reply is completely right and only got downvoted because of bandwagon hate and the fact he was condescending. Anyone who’s injured their back knows that jumping feels like absolute hell. It’s the 4th quartee, he’s probably in imense pain at this point, tired and genuinley doing what he thinks is his best course of action to stay on the court. It’s the same reason he awkwardly backs away from the box out, he doesn’t want to have to take contact or jump.
Back injuries are hell and I’m glad Simmons quit basketball tbh
With all due respect, injuries or no injuries, Ben made a concerted effort to avoid being fouled ever since this incident. That’s clearly mental. Could the back injuries play a role? Of course, but anyone who watched him after that saw that he overthought every move which is a mental issue. His confidence never came back after this. To act like he was 100% fine mentally despite this is being completely disingenuous.
Coming from a person who’s back was injured at work at 33 years old twice. I had a hell of a time and ended up shriveling up to nothing and my mind was a very dark place.
The in-between of learning to use your mind over your body can be very difficult as you cannot just trust “instincts” or muscle to overcome a decision that puts you in harms way.
It’s all tied together man.
Exactly. That mental hesitation that he’s picking up on is Simmons course correcting his natural instinct because his back is so fucked up.
This is very true but doesn’t really explain why he was allergic to the line for multiple years leading up to this incident as well. Full context is important lol this wasn’t exactly an isolated incident.
Genuinely curious, was his back fucked up coming out of college or something and I never heard about it?
It’s very possible, I had a lot of back spasms and problems that weren’t that bad. Once it went it went. Now I can’t put salt in my water softener without my back going out at 33 years old. It’s not fun.
You’re saying the same thing. His confidence was shattered because his back was shattered.
He shouldn’t be on the court at all then if he can’t take a layup in a playoff game. At 6’ 9”
That is not his call to make 🤷🏻♂️ he was on the court, and did what he thought he could and couldn’t.
People seem to forget that the back injury didn’t become public knowledge until the Sixers threatened to withhold an 8 figure sum from his salary.
He didn’t say anything about the injury after their season ended. Not even after missing a couple of practices. Not after being fined the first time. Then he claimed mental health issues first. Then when it looked like a large chuck of money was going to be taken away, then he brought up the back injury.
He didn’t just bring it up he got surgery on his back too. No surgeon (and no person would choose to do it) is doing back surgery for no reason it’s super invasive and *can* make things way worse. Pretty sure consensus at this point is you only do back surgery as a last resort for back injuries now. It was strange so it’s possible he injured it later while training/lifting something but it definitely was a real injury.
If you can’t shoot a layup then you’re too injured to play lol
It is interesting, after 5 years of getting older and more injured myself, it’s easier to recognize when somebody else is clearly dealing with some injury. It’s like you can see his entire body wincing.
Lmao get fucking real
I think I remember this differently. Almost no one thought this was a brain fart by Simmons, almost everyone agreed this was him being completely in his head about free throws and being afraid of even dunking because of the possibility of being fouled.
25⁄73 FT is 34 FT% in a series
They hacked his career out of him, lol
To this day, when you see a Sixers home game, and a player near the basket passes up a shot that is the slightest bit open, you can hear the crowd gasp groan. I see it and think yips immediately. It is still in our collective memory.
I’m a Reddit therapist
You guys are getting paid?
Crazy the fall he had and with him and Fultz the collapse of the 76ers tanking experiment.
I still haven’t found a new slant.
That burner account saga is one of my all time favorite sideshows.
Was that ever proven to be the Sixers GM/a member of his family? I can’t remember
Colangelos wife
Sixers have the funniest GM stories between this and Daryl Morey is a liar
Stressful ass franchise….. just ridiculous events one after the other
Our franchise was saved by a gold digger
Funniest stories in general. The Sixers have so many stories in the past few years. Endless entertainment.
She took the fall at least
it’s a normal collar. Move on, find a new slant
Simmons was one of the NBA’s up and coming stars. And not just in a “he had potential” way, but in a this guy was ROY, 3x All-Star, 1x All-NBA 3rd, and 2x All-NBA defense by age 23 kind of way.
It’s crazy to think he isn’t even 30 yet. He was supposed to be in the middle of his prime right now.
Smh, he could’ve been 3x ROY, didn’t have the eye of the tiger.
Basically the ideal modern NBA player except for the fact that he was not able nor seemingly wanted to put the ball in the basket. Even if simply attempted shots at a decent rate he would have had a long career.
I still believe Fultz was the result of a phantom motorbike accident. Or KD cursed him after tweeting about him in summer league.
The player himself in Philly was bad enough, but trading up with Boston for a player they clearly weren’t going to pick is just mind blowing.
Sixers dumb front office in a nutshell for the past 25 years.
Serious vs. unserious front office
if the celtics didn’t take him the lakers were
C’mon now… The Lakers were NEVER gonna pass up on Lonzo
yes they were there were reports we preferred fultz we just knew he wasn’t gonna fall to us
Something clearly happened to Fultz, though. He was the player Durant talked about when the meme “hesi pull up jimbo” was born.
The 76ers got two No. 1 picks in a row and drafted one player who forgot how to shoot and another who refused to shoot.
The top four picks in both the 2016 and 2017 NBA Drafts belonged to the 76ers, Lakers, Celtics, and Suns, in that order. The Lakers selected Ingram and Ball, which were reasonable choices at the time, but look less favorable in retrospect because the Celtics drafted Brown and Tatum. Meanwhile, the 76ers and Suns missed on both drafts.
Fultz didn’t forget how to shoot, he literally couldn’t because of his shoulder injury.
Can’t forget MCW and his historic debut
Still wild MCW has a really solid case for best rookie debut game of all time.
Defensive stalwart Trae Young scared him off
Which is crazy looking back at it cause if Simmons goes up Trae is probably getting postered.
Nah Simmons getting swapped out of the stadium by the 10 foot wing span bearing Trae young
He’s a regular Hakeem / Wemby type, this Trae Young fella
I don’t think Ben was scared of going to the basket. He was scared of shooting free throws when Trae inevitably fouls him. Which is kind of worse.
It looks like Trae is stepping out of the way after showing like he’s gonna guard. By the timing of it, looks like he doesn’t think he has a shot to even foul him to stop the shot. Ben passes with his foot in the middle of the restricted area my man is literally underneath the basket
It looks more like Trae was conceding the basket if anything.
Yeah exactly
Trae “Mt Mutombo” Young
Literally Ben Simmons was never the same.
Seems like he didn’t realize the defender behind him stopped.
I’ve seen the yips before, but never like this
Never in my days
He saw the hawks defensive stopper Trae young in the paint I don’t blame him for passing it up
“WHO ON THE HAWKS IS SCARING YOU??”
DUNK ON THAT LITTLE NI-
DUNK ON HIS LITTLE ASS!
YOU ARE 6’10! HE LIKE 5’11 AT BEST THEY STAT PADDIN HIM!
Lights were a little too bright to say the least
It’s not the yips, he knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t want to get fouled and go to the free throw line.
And this wasn’t like a one off thing, every playoff series he became nearly unplayable because teams would hack - a - Ben, can you imagine that? Hack a Shaq for your PG?
Well yeah it still is the yips.
He was refusing to take shots or be aggressive, because he was scared of going to the free throw line
I don’t think that’s the yips though, the yips would imply his decline and struggles are somewhat a mystery not just a consequence of his lack of relevant skills and teams exploiting that.
Chet came close in Game 7 of the WCF, but even he didn’t have a moment where he was this hesitant to make a play.
It’s been 5 years already?
Time flies
When you’re having fun (I’m not having fun).
Me neither
I’m having a great time
the days are long but the years are short…
This is the moment his career ended; he just didn’t know it yet. This day it was clear that he was mentally fractured on a basketball court.
A classic “NEVERMIND” forced by Trae Young!
Defensive impact is just nuts.
Trae Young is after all the Rudy Gobert of Trae Youngs
I don’t think we’ll see a career trajectory completely switch from one series.
Most disappointing player in modern NBA history.
this is what happens when u refuse to take Kobe’s advice
Absolutely wild watching it again how free it was. Trae literally cowering away the second Ben made the pump fake layup move. The level of yips here is unfathomable.
Also imagine if they allowed full capacity for the arena. The boos and jeers wouldve been thunderous
My perception has to be off…doesn’t it look like he is under the rim?
He didn’t even look at the basket
I think you mean “Trae Young makes the defensive stop of the year”
Crazy but people don’t reframe the play mentally themselves and give Trae his flowers. Trae did some shit, that makes wemby GOAT D tier… but instead its like watching a gazelle doin big balls at a goddamn lion and forcing him to back down, tail between the legs slinking away in shame. Dat lion always gonna know his homeys gonna see him as a lil bitch for that one day.
A moment that changed history.
30 second clip of the end of a career and it wasnt due to injury
Chet clearly celebrated the anniversary
That’s not Trae Young,, thats a Wembanyama!
Damn, it’s somehow worse than I remember
I thought it would feel more understandable with time :(
I was confused when this happened. Bewildered, really.
Good god its worse than I remembered
Little did we know we were witnessing the end of his career
Holy fuck this feels like 10 years ago. It was after this moment that he became a renowned “socialite”
I was there. I am not exaggerating when I say that single blunder sucked the life out of the entire building. Still plenty of time in the game but every single person knew it was over.
Completley overblown outrage. Not a great play, but so are bad shots, bad turnovers etc and this still resulted in free throws. Embiid and Rivers made him the scapegoat
I somewhat agree but it wasn’t just one play lol
He was shitting himself that series
He’d already started mentally falling apart with hack-a-Ben, then this series just worsened it all
He scored like 6 points in the second half that series lol
Ben Simmons burner account found
Who is he trying to gaslight lmao no one is falling for it
No I think you are missing the context this play represented. Which was Simmons made a bad play because he was scared to take a free throw. You can’t have your championship level pg make that decision
Embiid didn’t do that at all.
You’re relying on one portion of his comments that was taken out of context to fit a narrative.
When asked what the turning point of the game was Embiid game a five sequence play.
It started with the layup, but included the missed free throws from Thybulle (Simmons passed out to Thybulle who got fouled. Embiid said the non-layup doesn’t even matter if they make the FTs (Thybulle didn’t take this as an attack, he used it as motivation to work on his FTs, improving them the following season (.559 FT% prior, .736 since).
It also included the defensive possession after the missed FT.
It also included the two offensive possessions that were lost by his own turnovers.
Embiid didn’t throw Simmons under the bus. In fact he deflected the blame away from Simmons and placed it on the whole team, including his own errors.
In the off-season it was Embiid who tried to gather teammates together to go visit Ben (I think in California, but it’s been awhile).
Even after Simmons had that whole mess in training camp it was Embiid who later in the season, during a game when the crowd was booing Simmons, Joel took the mic and told the crowd to stop booing, that Ben was their brother.
These are not the actions of a man throwing his teammate under the bus.
Doc Rivers however, no defending that. And he’s done that across multiple teams with multiple star players.
Even the Doc part can be defended because if we are being real even before that we have seen multiple playoff games that shows Ben should not be one of the leading players. Then we also get into the person we dislike said something true but since people hate him he is wrong to say it.
Ben was a player that was pleaded to and begged to expand his offensive skills but never did and was coddled until this one play finally made people especially the Philly fans who stuck by him say enough is enough.
The beginning of the end of his career
I’m still upset he won ROY over Donovan. Especially having a year around NBA players and trainers.
Preach
Dude don’t want to play hoops after this.
Crazy.
Time flies it’s already been 5 years since Ben Simmons was an all star player
Simmons was *so weird* because, despite the obvious massive shortcoming of being entirely unable to shoot (attempt to, that is, not just shoot successfully), he was still an overall excellent player for a bit. Tier 1 playmaker and defender. Crazy how it fell apart so hard for him.
The process died that night
Kobe was right about him. That is all.
Just wait till he develops a jumper…
The play that ended his NBA career
To be fair with Ben Simmons, I also don’t think I could have made that basket.
Only 5 years ago? Feels more like 10.
I’ll never get over the crowd reaction. that’s gotta stay in your mind as a player
Alright now someone post the video of him making five shots in a row unguarded in an empty gym
His career was over right at this moment
This kid was so bad. When the Nets got him i knew their run was over
The anti-De’Aaron Fox layup
he was thinking about fish
Matisse my sweet prince
I just think people just really underestimate Trae’s defensive presence in the paint.
Wdym wide open trae young was gaurding it
I hope Ben is spending his money with a smile.
I still don’t understand why a pro basketball player would pass on a wide open layup or dunk. He had a clear line to the cup!
I will feel forever vindicated for saying they should’ve traded him after the 2019 ECSFs.
“He’s young you idiot he just averaged 16-8-8 and can guard 1-5 dumbass he was an all star”
Fuck Ben Simmons and Fuck Thybulle too smh
The next LeBron BTW
Yo wtf, this was rude and uncalled for
wait the fucking jazz were #1 seed 5 years ago? wtf
Watching this live felt kinda surreal because the narrative surrounding Ben was how scared he was on the offensive side of the ball. Seeing how open he was for that dunk, he had an opportunity to at least fight back against that narrative but instead did what everyone claimed he would do.
You know, I will always die on this hill.
Embiid continued to change how he had to play simply because Simmons never wanted to get a shot. Embiid is money on the low block/mid-range. He couldn’t operate there simply because Simmons was not a threat to shoot.
Lastly, it sucks to see players who are extremely talented never want to work on improving their game. No one is asking to be Steph, but people would love to see a playing consistently improving and willing to take the shots.
Rant over.
What a a head case and what a waste of a career.
And 5 years from now someone will post Fox getting blocked by OG instead of just holding the ball in the final seconds of game 4.
NBA off season doesn’t hit the same without that Simmons back in the gym video
Multiple things can be true.
Ben wasn’t the only reason the Sixers lost.
Ben was absolutely scared to shoot free throws and he made an inexplicably terrible decision.
Doc and Joel could’ve been more diplomatic in their post game answer.
Ben had earned the right for people to question him because we know the shooting conversation was years long.
Ben had a back injury that affected his basketball ability
Ben stopped carrying all that much after getting paid.
Truly one of the bizarre careers of the 2020s
Embiid mentioned all of the mistakes the Sixers made down the stretch after this play (including his own turnover) and repeatedly said that it was a team loss.
Not only did he not single anyone out (except for himself) but he didn’t mention anyone by name.
Reminded me of how late the 2021 season ended.
I remember when his defenders were still trying convince people that he would get a contract after his Nets stint. They’re still in the comments here trying to convince you he wasn’t that bad.
ngl I knew exactly what this was before I even clicked and I still watched the whole thing lol
The beginning of the end
This was the play that made me quit watching basketball and rely completely on this sub for my basketball needs.
DPOG Trae Young, can’t blame the dude. Had to pass.
Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering. Pain and
13 assists in that game for a single-double. He’s always made the “wrong” decision to chase stats, but I’m not sure what was at stake for him in this one.
I’m shorter and way less athletic but I’d try to reverse lay that in a rec game. That was a gimme and it’s still hard to think of a reason he’d pass that up
That pass sent him into professional fishing
At least he can’t miss throwing fish bait into the ocean
“Who is scaring you??”
He got no dawg up in em!
But only the Sixers could take a number one pick afraid to shoot and a number one pick who forgot how to shoot. This is some supreme cursed shit. Embiid must have had some African voodoo hex shit put on him before he came to America because the shit he has been through is ridiculous.
When you think of the word “coward” think of this moment of Simmons passing up a wide open dunk.
I remember seeing him play in the summer league and thought he was so cool and confident. Complete opposite of how he ended up years later.
6ers ended their window over this😂
Am I crazy or does he barely have a grip on the ball and is right under the basket?
I cannot beleive this was 5 years ago.
This is why when people say “his back was fucked up” as his reason for his decline. No, the dude was S O F T and would rather lose a game than look silly at the free throw line.
Amazing day to be a Philly hater
He left for Thybulle of all people
Ben_amin Simmons…
This isn’t a bad as I remember. He lost his handle on the ball, young collapsed and big man was right behind him. He definitely should have shot it but I can understand the instinct to pass in that moment.
How much money did this guy rob from teams in NBA earnings?
His FT% was never the same.
His dunk could have been blocked…. by Trae Young????
Damn seeing that it’s already been 5 years and I’m still watching this, my first thought is that layup from Fox this year is never going to be forgotten😂
This was the end of his career…
Damn how is this only 5 years ago
Is it possible that he was too close, seemed like he was underneath the cylinder.
What is the opposite of a dog in basketball?
PAB
Sixers really got the number 1 pick 2 years in a row, then drafted PGs who can’t shoot lmaaooo
Never seen anything like this in the league where a single play changes a guy’s career forever.
I don’t remember but did his teammate make the free throws?
out of the league - who would have guessed even 3 years ago
I watched it for the first time in years, and it’s still shocking
That pass was clean though
Leave the fisherman alone
I’d love to see Ben open up on a podcast episode. I think it would give people a little bit more insight into his overall mental state over the past decade or so. It could be inspiring for others to see him come forward and talk about it.
What ever happened to Matisse Thybulle?
What were his stats before and after this play? I’m sure someone has compiled it.
… That was 5 years ago?
jesus christ time flies
No need to post this
Permanent memory. In fact, I pushed some major life events out of my head to make room for it.
He has made 200mm being a player that will not be remembered in ten years.
This will never not be funny
Every once in a while I get a facebook memories notification when I posted that pic of him at LSU in a Magic Johnson jersey.
When you ask someone is there one moment in your life that you could change…
Hot take but it was a good pass. Thybulle just missed both ft.
Reminds me of nba 2k20. The intimidator badge was ridiculous. I remember having a 6’7 sf and 6’1 guards with intimidator badges would make me miss in the paint.
I thought this scenario was completely unrealistic and would never happen until i watched this game
And a legendary fisherman was born
He was afraid of the block from the opposing…… guard? lol
LeBron plays like that at times too, just to a less dramatic effects. He also tends to pass as soon as he sees help defense despite having the size to score over them. But this been Simmons example is just extreme, plus his track record making it perfect
Why
The fact that he was passing to Thybulle is funny too, dude is not a good shooter or free throw shooter