SAN FRANCISCO — Other than drinking a smoothie, an excited Ben Simmons didn’t eat all day before playing his first NBA game in one year, five months and 27 days.
The Sacramento Kings didn’t ease Simmons into his return, placing him directly into the starting lineup of Saturday’s preseason game. Just before tipoff, Golden State forward Draymond Green offered kudos to the 6-foot-10, 240-pound guard, who went on to win the opening tip.
Simmons had seven points on 2-of-4 shooting and added an assist in nine minutes during the Kings’ 111-106 loss to the Warriors. The 30-year-old was back on the floor wearing his old No. 25 for the first time after taking a season off to heal his back, knees and mind.
While this preseason game didn’t count in the standings or in Simmons’ career stats, it was “a new start” he needed.
“When you’re not hungry, you’re a little anxious. But you want to feel something,” Simmons told Andscape. “Feeling [game action] is a different feeling. It’s like feeling a bite from a fish. It’s just two different feelings. This feeling, you can’t replicate. I wasn’t nervous. I was like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’
“It feels like the start of a new era after just being away and coming back, which is really cool and a good feeling to have.”
Simmons is the subject of “Being Ben,” an ESPN E:60 and Andscape documentary premiering Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. (ET) on ESPN and streaming immediately after.
In “Being Ben,” the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA draft opens up about the highest of highs in his basketball journey — from his youth in Australia to starring in high school in America, at LSU, and with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year also delves into his lowest lows — missing his first season as a professional due to injury, struggling in the playoffs before asking the 76ers for a trade, and succumbing to a back injury with the Brooklyn Nets.
The E:60 profile also highlights Simmons’ lifelong love for fishing, including him buying a 50% ownership stake in the South Florida Sails professional angling club in December 2025.
“Being Ben” was produced and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Julian Gooden. Among those interviewed include former 76ers head coach Doc Rivers, former 76ers teammate Danny Green, Washington Wizards guard Trae Young, former 76ers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, Simmons’ godfather and former coach David Patrick, and Australian men’s national basketball team head coach Adam Caporn.
Simmons said he “can’t wait” for “Being Ben” to air.
“What I want people to take from it is that away from the game, I am who I am,” Simmons said. “But I do love the game. I wouldn’t have gone through all this [rehabilitation] to not play. I love this game. I love playing. I love competing. And my game is my game.”
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Simmons actually wasn’t high on the Kings’ radar even deep into free agency over the summer. But after the three-time NBA All-Star showed he was healthy at an Australia national team minicamp in Melbourne in early August, interest around the league began to pick up. Patrick told Kings assistant coach Brendan Suhr — who also coached Simmons at LSU — how well the guard had played.
After a conversation with Suhr, Kings general manager Scott Perry paid a visit to Miami to watch Simmons work out in late August.
“Around the time he was participating with the Australian national team, I got a couple calls from people in Australia mentioning the fact that Ben Simmons is here and he’s playing really, really well, he looks healthy again and a little bit reminiscent of his days in Philadelphia,” Perry told E:60.
The New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors were also interested in Simmons, according to sources, but none offered a contract. However, once the Miami workout for Perry had been scheduled, Simmons was so confident the Kings would sign him that he began researching homes in Sacramento, he told E:60.
Sure enough, shortly after the workout and a positive conversation with Perry, Simmons would have a contract offer.
“One of my big questions for him was, ‘OK, why?’ ” Perry told E:60. “’You essentially hadn’t played in two years. You made a lot of money. You’ve gone through a lot of scrutiny. Why are you doing this?’
“Two things really stuck out to me in his response. One, ‘Scott, this is the first time I’ve really been healthy in two years.’ And the second and very important thing he said was, ‘Scott, I miss playing basketball.’”
Days after working out for Perry, Simmons went to Sacramento, where he worked out in front of Kings head coach Doug Christie and other staff members. The Kings signed Simmons to a one-year, $3.5 million contract that was announced Sept. 8.
Sacramento was a Western Conference-worst 22-60 last season, but Simmons told E:60 he was excited to join the franchise in part because “they wanted me.”
“When you have done something your whole life and so you’re used to it, that is a big part of who I am,” Simmons said. “I know what I am without it [basketball] now. But I also know it’s a huge part of my life now. I’m just being grateful for being able to compete and play. And also knowing when this is done I have [another] part of my life, which is cool.”
Simmons, who didn’t suit up in the Kings’ first two preseason games, told Andscape after his nine-minute debut Saturday that he felt good physically and expects his minutes to be ramped up to 18 in preseason action against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday and 27 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
“Ben can do everything,” Christie said. “There’s no area that is off limits. He can guard one through five. He can play one through five. In the preseason, there’s an experimental part of what we do. We try to see rotations, minutes and lineups. First and foremost, [I’m] just excited for him — proud of him and for him as he gets back on the floor. I’m super excited.”
Said Simmons: “The plan is to keep building and building. I felt really good, felt confident out there.”
Simmons is expected to remain in the starting lineup alongside rookie guard Darius Acuff for the Oct. 21 season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers. The last time he played in more than 51 NBA games in a season was the 2020-21 campaign, when he logged 58 with Philadelphia, his goal is to play all 82 this season with Sacramento.
“It makes it way easier for me,” Acuff said about playing with Simmons. “I can pass and score. So, when he’s in, I can just let him do him and I do me and I play off the ball a little bit. And I don’t mind doing that at all. It’s great to have him, man. He’s still as fast as we watched him when he first came out. He still looked like Ben, so it’s great to have him out there. He’s a great veteran, great leader.”
When asked by Andscape what the best part of his return was, Simmons took a moment before saying, “All of it.”
“Just being back in that moment. Being able to play. Every detail,” Simmons said. “Warming up. Greeting the referees. Everything that comes with it. It’s cool to be back.”
The post Ben Simmons, back in NBA with Sacramento Kings, now knows a life without basketball appeared first on Andscape.
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