His father played college basketball for Oklahoma City University in the United States before turning professional with the Melbourne Tigers in Australia's National Basketball League in 1989.
Simmons was raised in Newcastle from the age of 18 months while his father played and coached in the city.
Simmons began playing basketball at the age of seven in the Newcastle Hunters' under-12 representative team.
He later played for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle.
At age 10, Simmons returned to Melbourne and began playing junior basketball for the Knox Raiders.
As a youngster, he also played rugby and Australian rules football.
In year 7, while attending Whitefriars College, Simmons was named MVP after he helped Whitefriars win the Year-7 Division 1A basketball premiership.
As a teenager, Simmons was torn between his two loves of basketball and Australian rules football, but he eventually decided to focus on basketball.
1996
Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He played college basketball for one season with the LSU Tigers, after which he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year.
2011
In year 9, at the age of 15, Simmons played basketball for Box Hill Senior Secondary College at the 2011 Australian Schools Championships before taking up a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2012.
Later that year, Simmons made his first appearance in the United States at the renowned Pangos All-American Camp for basketball prospects.
2012
Despite being only 15 years old, he was chosen to represent Australia at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.
2013
In January 2013, Simmons moved to the U.S. to compete against boys of comparable size and athleticism.
He attended Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.
In April 2013, he helped Montverde rally from a 16-point deficit to beat New Jersey's St Benedict's 67–65 in the final of the High School National Tournament.
After competing in the Jordan Brand Classic International Game, he returned to Melbourne, where he joined the Bulleen Boomers of the Big V competition in June 2013.
On 14 October 2013, Simmons committed to Louisiana State University, picking LSU over other offers from Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke.
Simmons returned to Montverde Academy for his junior season in 2013–14.
On the season, Simmons averaged 18.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 69 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line.
He recorded 88 blocks as well.
Montverde finished the season with a 28–0 record, closing with a 71–62 victory over Oak Hill Academy in the High School National Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Simmons had 24 points and 12 rebounds as he earned MVP honours.
Following the season, he was named America's top high school junior and was voted MVP at the National Basketball Players' Association Top 100 camp.
2014
On 12 November 2014, Simmons signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for LSU.
2015
On 28 January 2015, Simmons was named as a starter for the East team to compete in the 38th annual McDonald's All-American Game.
On 10 March 2015, he was named the Morgan Wootten Award winner, given annually to the best male McDonald's All-American player who exemplifies outstanding character, exhibits leadership, and embodies the values of being a student-athlete in the classroom and in the community.
He was then named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year on 12 March and the Gatorade National Player of the Year on 24 March after leading the Eagles to a 28–1 record and a berth in the High School National Tournament for the third straight year.
In 29 regular season games, he averaged 28.0 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.6 steals per game while shooting 70.7 percent from the field and recording 24 double-doubles.
2016
Simmons was selected with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
2018
After sitting out a year due to an injured right foot, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and was selected three times to the NBA All-Star Game.
2020
As the result of a holdout from the 76ers following the 2020–21 season, which led him to be traded to the Nets, Simmons is the most-fined player in NBA history, in terms of total financial loss.
Simmons attended Box Hill Senior Secondary College in his hometown of Melbourne, Victoria, before moving to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.
In his only season in college, LSU began the season with high expectations, but they failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Simmons left school to enter the NBA draft, becoming the third Melbourne-born number one overall pick (following Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving) in 11 years.
Simmons is the son of an American-born father, Dave, who played professional basketball in Australia.
A dual citizen of Australia and the United States, Simmons has played for the Australian national team.
Simmons was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy to father Dave and mother Julie.
His father is an African-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia, and his mother is a white Australian.
He was raised alongside five siblings—Melissa, Emily, Liam, Sean, and Olivia—the first four being from his mother's previous marriage.
