Inside Ben Simmons’ surprise Boomers return

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Ben Simmons’ high profile return to the Australian Boomers fold has been met with an overwhelming sense of hope and praise from basketball identities all over the world, writes CODE Sports.

That includes one of Australia’s greatest players in Andrew Bogut and ex-NBA freak athlete Cole Anthony, who have endorsed the much-maligned 30-year-old former No.1 draft pick’s bid to return to the NBA and play a part in next year’s FIBA World Cup and the 2028 LA Olympics.

Simmons has turned Port Melbourne’s Courtside into the centre of the Australian basketball world this week, taking part in a mini-camp with 20 of Australia’s best and brightest players, posting photos of his ripped physique on Instagram and confirming he wants to be a Boomer for the first time in 13 years.

Bogut, who remains deeply involved in the Boomers set up and is in Melbourne for the closed-door sessions, declared Simmons has “still got plenty of basketball left in him”.

“I hope he makes a comeback and gets back out there in the NBA and hopefully for the Boomers, one day,” Bogut said.

“Multi-positional player and he’s elite defensively and can really cause issues at the offensive end, too — when he’s in the right mindset.

“So obviously, if he puts his hand up, he’d be in a really good position there to make that team if he commits to it.

“So we’re hopeful that he does.”

Bogut’s latest stance is a shift from his comments prior to the Tokyo Olympics, where he urged Simmons to stop “dangling the carrot” and giving the Boomers false hope.

For the full story on Simmons returning to the court, click here.

The CODE Sports Basketball story was written by Michael Randall, Matt Logue and Peter Rolfe.