Ben Simmons is the presumptive No. 1 pick in next June’s NBA draft. The 6'10" forward playing for LSU has been compared to Anthony Davis in terms of what he can do on the court and his potential impact in the NBA. Some have said he could be a future best player on the planet.
A future LeBron James?
Simmons was in the crowd Friday night when LeBron put up 37 and Davis put up 31 in the eventual Pelicans OT win in New Orleans. After the game, LeBron was asked about having Simmons compared to him, and he’s fine with it, as reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Scouts generally hate player comparisons when talking about guys coming out of college, because every player is unique. Compare Simmons to Davis or LeBron or anyone else and those comparisons carry bagage with them that are not necessarily part of the package. That said, the human brain wants to draw connections to things we know, it makes understanding new information easier, and because of that comparisons aren’t going anywhere. Including ones to LeBron.
We are long, long way from knowing if Simmons can have the kind of Hall of Fame career that LeBron has already assembled at age 30.
That said, I had a scout tell me a while ago about Simmons “he might be worth taking for.”