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nba star ben simmons Have chosen to pursue a career in professional fishing To push back a possible return to top-level basketball.
The 29-year-old has become a team owner in the Sport Fishing Championships (SFC) running South Florida Sails.
(SFC) showcases professional offshore saltwater fishing with 16 elite angling clubs, and was founded in 2021.
A three-time NBA All-Star (2019–2021), Simmons last played in the league for the LA Clippers against the Golden State Warriors on April 13, concluding a short stay in California on a one-year contract worth a minimum of $1.1 million.
Simmons earned $203 million in career earnings during a nine-year career in the NBA after making a name for himself with the Sixers after being drafted in 2016.
And after going to the Nets in 2022, Simmons joined the Clippers last year.
When asked about returning this season, Simmons said, “I don’t think it makes sense to waste a spot just to be there.”
“I guess it’s a little selfish. … But I want to reach my best ability and physical peak to compete. Otherwise, it doesn’t really serve any purpose for me.
“I’m looking at maybe half of this year, if not next season.”
Simmons has shown his passion for the sport on social media and admitted that it can be “tedious and difficult”, but also underlined that it is ultimately “a lot of fun”.
“It’s a very niche sport,” Simmons told Endscape. “And if you don’t know, you don’t know. But once you experience it and go there and see what it’s about, you kind of wonder what the game is all about.
And I’ve always been interested in it in the context of the sport of fishing. Technology. And there is so much in it that people cannot understand.
“These guys are fishing on million-dollar ships, and they’re out for days. So, it’s grueling and gritty, but a lot of fun. It’s one of those worlds where you just have to experience it, get in and see what it is.”