Ben Simmons has officially been anointed the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year, at the NBA Awards ceremony in Santa Monica, California.
Simmons beat out Utah Jazz upstart Donovan Mitchell to claim the highly coveted award, following a breakout year that saw Simmons – along with his youthful Philadelphia 76ers teammates – lift his team into the Eastern Conference semifinals.
.@BenSimmons25 of the @sixers wins the 2017-2018 Rookie of the Year! #KiaROY #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/KqAhsgJLxP
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2018
Ben Simmons’ rookie year in the NBA saw him take the league by storm, producing season stats of 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. He also passed Magic Johnson‘s mark of 7 triple doubles in rookie season, meaning he now has the second-most rookie year triple doubles in NBA history, behind only the prolific and legendary Oscar Robertson.
The 2017-2018 #KiaROY is… @BenSimmons25! #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/MGytuzAXVN
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2018
Unsurprisingly, Simmons is the first Australian to ever claim Rookie of the Year honours. The award has previously been won by the likes of Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Larry Bird, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Michael Jordan. Entirely decent company.
The 2017-18 NBA Awards remains on-going, with Victor Oladipo taking out the Most Improved Player, and Rudy Gobert earning Defensive Player of the Year honours in awards given out thus far.
HELL YEAH SIMMO. MELBOURNE AND NEWCASTLE’S OWN.
