Australian Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has revealed Ben Simmons was all but set to suit for the national side at the 2024 Olympics before a debilitating back injury got in the way.
Simmons’ motivation to play for the Boomers has long been put in question as the former No.1 pick has turned down several opportunities to play for his home country at international level.
Most recently, Simmons turned down the chance to play at the 2020 Olympics after a disastrous post-season run with the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons publicly stated he was going to spend the time working on his jump shot, but was seen on holiday in England shortly after.
Now it seems that not only is Simmons’ Boomers' future up in the air, but so is his NBA future after an ongoing back issue has once again flared up.
Despite plenty of doubt over his commitment to the national side, Goorjian revealed his belief that Simmons still has his heart set on one day playing for the Boomers.
“I really feel that he’s committed to Australia,” Goorjian told SEN 1170 Afternoons.
“I thought he looked really motivated, this is like a new day, everyone starts thinking, ‘Here goes Goorjian again’, because I’ve been positive about this the whole way through.
“When I met him face to face… he looked me in the eye and he shook my hand and said, ‘I want to be a Boomer’.
“In all honesty, it wasn’t, ‘I’m not playing’ he had a back issue and he said, ‘If I’m playing I want to play for the Boomers’.
“Since I’ve been involved with the Boomers until now, he hasn’t played in the NBA, if he’s not playing in the NBA he’s not playing for the Boomers, nor do we want a guy that isn’t in a position to play, that’s not fair to the other players.
“As it sits now, he felt like he started the season, the back got irritated, he was on the mend coming back, (then) get some momentum and come into the Boomers.
“But he needed to get on the floor and right now the news has been horrific, the back has blown up and he’s out for the rest of the (season) and I’d say that puts a lid on my time with Ben in Paris.”
Goorjian also opened up on the well-publicised saga leading up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and admitted it wouldn’t have been good for his career to play.
“I felt at that time it was a bad time to go into the (Olympics), the international game is different, how they would’ve played Ben Simmons, every time he touched the ball they would’ve fouled him and put him on the foul line, they would’ve made life miserable and he was vulnerable then,” Goorjian added.
“Since then, he’s gone to (Brooklyn), I felt (for) this one coming up (in) Paris, he was really excited about.