30
Jun
FIBA World Cup
Ben's Boomers bombshell: 'We're not going to beg'
Ben Simmons drives to the basket during his only senior tournament for the Australian Boomers against the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship in Canberra. Simmons made his Boomers debut as a 17-year-old but has not represented Australia since. Photo: Stefan Postles/Getty Images.
Highlights
Jock Landale says Ben Simmons is always welcome with the Boomers, but Australia will not beg.
- 'He wants to': Ben Simmons' Boomers desire for LA28
- The Ballard of Aussie Benjamin David Simmons
- 'Healthy' Ben Simmons putting 'Heat' on comeback
Australian Boomers centre and leader Jock Landale declared “the invite's always there” for Ben Simmons to rejoin the national team, but “we're not going to beg” for the return of the NBA All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year.
Simmons, who will turn 30 on July 20, has told Men’s Health magazine he has been talking to NBA head coaches who have told him “if he’s healthy, he has a spot.”
“I plan on getting as strong as I can physically, getting my ass on the court, and then the team realising that my abilities will be needed,” he said.
“I don’t have a plan on where.”
Landale, 30, and the Boomers are preparing for the 2027 FIBA Men's World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“As for Ben's relationship with the Boomers, from what I understand, there's a bit of history there,” Landale told Dyl & Friends.
“I wasn't involved back then, and I don't hold any judgment towards it.
“I would've loved to have had him along many times. I don't know where he sits with basketball right now.
“I see him working out every now and again.
“I think it's one of those things where we'd love to have him if he's ready to go, healthy, mentally in a good spot and willing, like everyone else, to buy into the Boomers culture. But if not, no hard feelings.
“He could've helped us a lot at times. It would've been cool to come home with a few more medals with his help.
“But that's reality. We're not going to beg.
“We've got this thing where if you want to be a part of it, you're there.
“It's just that simple. The invite's there. The invite's always there.”
Simmons didn’t play in the NBA last season after declining a minimum contract with the New York Knicks. He last played for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2024-25 season.
The Melbourne-born 2.03m point-forward bought into the South Florida Sails professional fishing team and has spent the past eight months fishing in Florida.
“He's invested pretty heavily in fishing,” Landale added.
“From what I understand, I don't know Ben all that well. I've had a couple of chats with him over FaceTime through a friend of mine – he just loves fishing.
“He's invested heavily into this fishing league and, from what I understand, it's pretty cool, and it's doing well. Credit to him.
“Bringing the psychology aspect into it again, something we all struggle with is thinking, ‘My life stops when I stop basketball’.
“My psychologist made an incredibly valid point. He said: ‘Imagine if basketball isn't what your life's meant to be about and you find your real calling afterwards’.
“It kind of feels like that's what Ben's done. I think that's awesome.”
Simmons has played just twice for the Australian Boomers at the 2013 FIBA Men’s Oceania Championships as a 17-year-old. He did not play at the next three Olympic Games despite being repeatedly considered for selection to the Boomers.
He withdrew before the 2016 Rio Olympics to prepare for his NBA rookie season, pulled out of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics to focus on his physical and mental well-being after a difficult NBA playoff run, and missed the 2024 Paris Olympics while continuing his rehabilitation from persistent lower back injuries.
Boomers assistant coach and Simmons' godfather, David Patrick, said the two-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member wanted to don the Boomers jersey again.
"Believe it or not, he wants to wear it and I think the Olympics is kind of his goal," Patrick said.
"I think as he's got older and matured like all of us do, I think that's one thing he hasn't ticked off the box, playing for his country. He played in the youth level, but it's nothing like playing with the Boomers.
"So I think he's on track to trying to get healthy mentally and physically, and I think it's something that he will try to do moving forward.
"It'd be an exciting time to hopefully try to get him into LA, but there's some steps in place when you've been out for the year that he has been."
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