Ben Simmons is making his opponents look like a bunch of rookies

One of my favorite things that Ben Simmons does is when he gets into the lane, stops, and just palms the ball. His defender sags off to protect the rim because Simmons is not a good shooter and the defender knows he knows that. So instead of shooting an ill-advised shot, Simmons holds the ball aloft in one hand and waits for a teammate to cut to the rim or get open around the three point line.

It’s a ridiculous scene in the NBA in 2018. A professional basketball player given so much space and dared to shoot by the opposition well inside the three-point line, with full knowledge that he can’t do what should be a foundational skill for any player.

Ordinarily, when players who can’t shoot are dared to do so, you can sense their anxiety. They hesitate, they quake, they look for other options. If they don’t find any other options, they regretfully take the shoot, expecting to miss. It’s comical and a bit bizarre.

That does not happen with Ben Simmons.

There is no anxiety when Simmons palms the ball in this spot. The defender gives him space, and he barely acknowledges the trap that’s being set for him. Usually, he doesn’t even look at the defender or the rim. He peers around and waits.

Then, when one of his teammates runs past him or towards the paint, Simmons delivers them the ball in stride for the layup or dunk. Otherwise, he passes it out to someone behind the three point line and sets a pick to give them an open shot. On the rare occasions when Simmons does take the shot, he follow after it for the rebound or put-back.

That moment represents Simmons’ level of control. When he’s holding the ball aloft and the defender is taking steps back, it’s not Simmons who is scared because he can’t shoot, it’s the defender who is full of fear. They are the insecure ones not knowing what’ll come next, not the other way around.

In this way, Simmons flips the usual purpose of laying off a bad shooter. He knows that he can go to the rim and get whatever he wants there, and the defense, deep down, knows that as well. OK, he’s not likely to take the shot, but he could do anything else. The defense can’t help but fixate on him because they have no clue what he’s going to do, and this fatal curiosity allows his teammates to get open without being seen.

Simmons makes similar plays from all over the floor, when it seems like he’s casually dribbling around. The defense still focuses on him and is caught off guard by the pass he makes once he has their full attention.

One of these assists happened with 8:21 left in the second quarter of Philly’s 130-103 Game 1 win over the Heat.

Watch Hassan Whiteside during all this traffic. He was walking back into the paint in the center and had his head turned to the right as everything unfolded from that side. He knew Dario Saricwas behind him, but rather covering the man, Whiteside instead couldn’t help to gaze at Simmons. As soon as Simmons had Whiteside’s attention, he whipped the pass beyond him and into Saric’s hands. Whiteside could do nothing at that point to stop the basket.

Simmons showed similar command with a little more than 10 minutes left in the third.

This time he was on the left wing, standing still while being guarded by James Johnson. Again, Whiteside was retreating to the paint, this time trying to keep a cutting Ersan Ilyasova in front of him. But again, Whiteside couldn’t resist turning to look at Simmons. The second Whiteside glanced up, Simmons found Ilyasova with a sharp pass for easy points.

Simmons has more than just his vision; he also has so much gravity when he’s on the court. Great shooters have this ability to suck defenders into their vortex, but Simmons does it while refusing to shoot. Defenders can’t help but to pay attention to him, even when he’s almost static. Once their attention is compromised, Simmons punishes them for it. Sometimes it’s with a pass. Sometimes, it’s with a drive. Sometimes, it’s with a fake handoff that takes away two defenders before driving at the rim unimpeded.

His height and vision sure help. There’s not much a team can do against a 6’9-plus point guard who can dribble past and dunk on centers, let alone the opposing guards that are dramatically shorter than him.

But none of those tools are useful without the level of composure and confidence that’s rare in veterans, let alone rookies. Simmons knows what he can and can’t do and he knows the same limits and abilities of his teammates. He’s patient, and it sometimes feels like he can see the future in the way he gets the ball in the spaces and at the right height that drives his teammate’s next move. And he does all of this while being unbothered by the occasion.

Simmons saying that he didn’t pay attention to other rookies spurred a silly beef, but what he said after was more revealing about his mindset than that petty comment. He wasn’t trying to disrespect Donovan Mitchell, necessarily. He was just saying he didn’t watch the rookies because he instead studied the best players in the NBA instead. His mission is to be like them, not like his peers:

“I want to be where the greats are. So, for me, I watch the guys like [Kevin Durant], [LeBron James], [Stephen] Curry, Russell [Westbrook]. Guys like that. That’s where I want to be. I think for me, that’s what I love to watch.”

Jazz fans might call that arrogance, but Simmons is speaking truths. He is only a rookie in technicality. He plays and thinks beyond that.

In retrospect, it wasn’t a surprise to see him dominate in his first-ever playoff game because he doesn’t share in the expectations and limitations of playing in his first year. He’s aiming for something much higher. Simmons doesn’t want to be a great rookie, he wants to be one of the greats.

When he stands on the court with the ball aloft in one hand, he doesn’t have the fears and mindset of a first-year player. He has the presence and control that mirrors — and maybe even exceeds — the greats that he studies.