Ben Simmons has received plenty of criticism throughout his career for never having an outside shot. After watching the circus shot Simmons made on Tuesday night, perhaps the doubters will quiet down for a few days.
Simmons, a two-time All-Star, found himself in an uncomfortable position in the paint at an awkward angle and with limited room to move. Somehow, he pivoted to his right with his back to the basket and floated up a shot to the basket and watched as it fell in while he stumbled to the ground.
It feels like this shot shouldn’t even be humanly possible. Simmons had all of his weight on his left leg, while tossing the basketball up with his right hand and his body on the verge of tipping over. Yet he found a way to make it all work with a circus shot all while being guarded by All-Star forward Paul George.
Coming off a month that saw him average 22.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game, Simmons is just playing at an absurd level right now. If he’s going to combine that with his outstanding defense and the ability to make shots we’ve never seen, then it might be time for the criticism to stop and the appreciation to begin.