The biggest season of Ben Simmons' career, to date, was doomed from the start.
He had left Montverde Academy, where he was the beloved Australian import who led the Florida school to three national titles and a 62-1 record during his three seasons. His next stop was Louisiana State University to join his godfather, David Patrick, a Tigers assistant coach at the time. However, Simmons' one year at LSU was far from enjoyable.
The 6-foot-10, 243-pounder was criticized for everything, from not having a good jump shot to not shooting enough 3-pointers to not leading a selfish and injured LSU squad to the NCAA Tournament.
"Going to LSU was lots of up and downs," he said. "But I learned a lot from going there. I think it kind of prepared me. I needed to go through that to prepare for this next level."
As the 76ers' first overall pick, he's bound to experience some ups and downs _ many downs in the early going _ during his NBA career.
If Simmons struggles, some of the same people who praised the pick Thursday night will wonder whether he's a bust. He is about to be analyzed on and off the court for everything from his accent and style of dress to his shot selection and his head-to-head statistics against other elite players. And even if Simmons becomes a perennial NBA all-star, he'll have to deal with the pressure of leading the Sixers to an NBA title.
So he's lucky to have a mentor in LeBron James.
It can be argued that no basketball player has been scrutinized as much as James has throughout his career. It can also be argued that no basketball player has had to deal with the amount of pressure that the four-time NBA MVP has.
Nowadays, the Akron, Ohio, native is being praised for leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA championship. He'll always be loved for ending a 52-year pro-sports championship drought, which felt more like a curse, in the sports-mad city of Cleveland, about 38 miles from his hometown.
But it wasn't too long ago that some Clevelanders burned James' No. 23 jersey after he said, "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat."
That was on July 8, 2010, when ESPN televised a live special dubbed "The Decision. But seven years earlier, James was in a situation similar to the one Simmons is in today. Yet it was a little more pressure-packed.
He was picked first overall by the Cavaliers in the 2003 draft as an 18-year-old graduate of Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Talk about pressure. The Cavs' colors were changed and a new team logo was created to celebrate a new era.
While not quite like last season's 10-72 Sixers, the Cavs were in disarray the season before drafting James, winning just 17 games.
They went on to make an 18-game improvement in James' initial season. James was named rookie of the year, and made his first of 12 straight all-star selections the following season. He's been to seven NBA Finals _ three in Cleveland and four in Miami.
Before this year's championship series with the Golden State Warriors, James was criticized for having a Finals record of 2-4. Some even criticized his unselfish style of play. The thought was that at 6-8 and 250 pounds he should always take over games.
The equally unselfish Simmons is going to receive the same criticism if people think he didn't shoot enough in a close loss.
But the criticism never really seemed to publicly bother James, who hasn't had any negative media attention away from the game. He always took the high road and kept playing hard while ignoring the outside noise.
The folks who burned his jerseys welcomed him back with open arms when he returned to Cleveland before the start of the 2014-15 season. He rewarded those fans last week with a long-awaited title.
Simmons knows that the criticism will come, just like it did at LSU.
"That's always going to happen when you are one of the best guys," he said of the negative talk in college.
Simmons said he has matured and has become a better player since his days at LSU. No one knows when or if he will lead the Sixers to their first title since 1983. Nor does anyone know whether he'll become a perennial all-star like James.
What we do know is he'll have a great mentor to lean on when he goes through tough times. And there are definitely going to be tough times in the beginning.
About the Author
