Australia’s highly touted college basketball prospect Ben Simmons is a legitimate phenom.
Despite playing on a struggling, unranked LSU side who – at 9-5 – are in severe danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, Simmons continues to be the talk of college basketball this season.
Despite the hype that was already on his broad shoulders, the 19-year-old from Melbourne has shown ample streaks of the brilliance that has him touted as the almost-consensus number one draft pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
And the praise is starting to come from high places.
NBA legend, and the man widely considered to be the greatest player to ever pull on a Los Angeles Lakers jersey, Magic Johnson today heaped a glowing assessment onto the growing pile of Simmons superlatives, with the 12-time NBA All-Star and 5-time NBA Champion comparing Simmons to fellow NBA superstar LeBron James.
LSU’s Ben Simmons is the best all around player I’ve seen since LeBron James came out of high school straight to the NBA!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 6, 2016
Whatever team selects Ben Simmons, will be getting a player that will have an immediate impact on their squad!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 6, 2016
Johnson’s comments came today as Simmons’ LSU Tigers scored a massive upset over the highly fancied 9th ranked University of Kentucky.
Despite Simmons recording a relatively quiet game after getting into early foul trouble, the Tigers upended the Wildcats at home in Baton Rouge by a score of 85-67 in a powerful, all-around team performance.
The College Basketball season is now steamrolling towards the NCAA Tournament and the traditional “March Madness” period. Beyond that, Ben Simmons has two key dates on his calendar: May 17th, when the NBA Draft Lottery will determine which team gets first dibs on him, and June 23rd when he becomes Australia’s second ever NBA number one draftee.
Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images.
Source: ABC News.
