Philadelphia 76ers: Ben Simmons deserves more attention than Lonzo Ball

The mass NBA media is obsessing over the wrong rookie point guard. Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons is the real rookie standout lead guard

Lately, if you’re tall and can dribble, likable and can throw some nice passes, people start comparing you to Magic Johnson. At least, that’s what has happened with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lonzo Ball.

Giannis deserves big-time comparisons. He’s 22 and already the presumptive MVP, good enough that we’re forced to memorize the spelling of his name and multifaceted enough for Jason Kidd to say he’s not only Magic but Kevin Garnett, too.

But our eyes tell us Kidd is lying. Antetokounmpo is talented enough to have high expectations heaped on him, but Magic isn’t the right one. Giannis can’t pass or dribble well enough for that. A seven-foot Scottie Pippen with a scorer’s mentality. That’s more accurate.

Ball is a different situation entirely. At 6-foot-6 with passing and rebounding ability, playing for the Lakers and a media darling, the Magic comparisons were going to come.

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Here’s the hiccup: Magic made his team better. All the time. He did it as a rookie in 1980 when he elevated the Lakers from a 47-win team of underachievers to a 60-win, championship hoisting juggernaut. He kept going until age 36, when he came back from four years of retirement, out of shape, playing power forward instead of point guard, and still did his thing – first on the Lakers in assists, third in points, and fourth in rebounds, all while playing less than thirty minutes per game.

The Lakers are worse when Lonzo plays. Among the Lakers’ top-10 rotation players, he has the worst net rating, according to NBA.com. Surprisingly, the negative impact is due mainly to the Los Angeles offense cratering. Lonzo is shooting 30.8% from the court. No player shoots as often as Lonzo and at a worse percentage. Creative passing only gets you so far.

Lonzo has the tools to improve. But he’ll never be Magic because Magic got buckets at will. Jason Kidd is the better comparison, another former second overall pick and so-so scorer who killed it as a floor general and rebounder. Kidd, though, was a hellacious defender. Lonzo is a sieve on defense.

Still, not being the next Magic Johnson or Jason Kidd isn’t a crime! Pundits have painted Lonzo as something he isn’t. That’s not his fault. Magic was a generational prospect from the jump, and Giannis has proven himself to be one. Lonzo isn’t on that level. He wasn’t the best player in high school or the draft, and a heap of rookies have been better.

Yet, Lonzo has been all over our screens for many months. Some of the attention is because of the Los Angeles media. Most of it is because of his father. Luke Walton and Magic Johnson haven’t helped, nor has Lakers’ owner Jeanie Buss or former Laker great James Worthy.

Somehow Lonzo, despite it all, comes off as sincere and likable, the type of player you want to have on your team. That’s awesome. Plus, it’s not all manufactured hype – Lonzo does see the game well, and he does make passes that astound you, and he does have the ability to be a better scorer. The same qualities, however, applied to Ricky Rubio when he was the fourth pick out of Spain. He was another Kidd look-a-like but didn’t garner a gazillionth of the acclaim that Lonzo has.

Let’s look at some numbers from rookie seasons. See if you can guess each player:

Player A: 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, .31 field goal percentage

Player B: 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists, .36 field goal percentage

Player C: 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, .53 field goal percentage

Player D: 18.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, .52 field goal percentage

Player A, as you may have guessed, is Lonzo Ball.

Player B is Ricky Rubio.

Player C is Magic Johnson as a rookie in 1980.

Doesn’t Player D look similar? That’s Ben Simmons, and he’s the new-age Magic we’ve been combing the league for. Not only are their stats uncannily alike, but Simmons also has an edge despite playing fewer minutes per game and at a slower pace.

Antetokounmpo’s game is different from Magic’s. Lonzo’s game is similar but not good enough. But Simmons? He’s sufficiently ridiculous to deserve the heavy-handed comparison. He’s a Magic-esque passer, suave at the rim, makes any basket you want within ten feet. He plays point guard even though he’s built like a power forward, and he has the same killer instinct written all over his face – Magic’s smile never hid that.

Simmons is the prospect that deserves the media mania. Comparing him with Lonzo, Simmons is superior in size and speed, stats and strength, skill and success, and everything else. But the attention Lonzo receives makes Simmons look like a blip on the radar. Ironically, this isn’t the case of a small-market superstar. Simmons plays in freakin’ Philadelphia, the fourth largest market in the country.

The lack of hype won’t last. Like Magic again, Simmons’ imprint on the league will come early. Simmons doesn’t have to play with a roster defunct of support, that unfortunate situation that young superstars so often find themselves in.

Pairing Simmons with Joel Embiid is criminal. Criminal. It’s as if Kareem and Magic were the same age. Toss in Markelle Fultz and Bob Covington and Dario Saric, and it’s even more astounding. LeBron wishes he had been as lucky!

Speaking of LeBron, the NBA can thank him for its bright future. Still the best, he has already influenced a generation of basketball players. Jordan impersonators crowded the league in the late ‘90s, early ‘00s, and the same is happening now with King James.

Except, nobody wanted to see Jerry Stackhouse try to be like Mike. Players, save Kobe, couldn’t mimic Jordan’s style. That’s not the case here. The team-oriented basketball that LeBron plays is replicable. Simmons, though he favors Magic, is a LeBron acolyte. So is Giannis. So is Lonzo. That’s going to prompt a wonderful era of basketball, with Simmons is leading the way.

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And, if you haven’t been watching, it’s not too late. We’re only getting started.

"“I thought I’d be playing better, honestly,” Simmons said. “I need to pick it up.”"

*Statistics courtesy of basketball-reference.com unless otherwise specified