Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons is doubtful to play for Australia in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Instead, Simmons, 24, will spend the offseason working on his skill development, particularly his shooting.
76ers head coach Doc Rivers believes that this summer will be different for Simmons, who struggled from the foul line and disappeared on offense in the team’s playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Not only is Simmons willing to do the work, but the 76ers have a plan to address his shooting woes that will involve doing “the right work” and doing it “the right way.”
“I believe, without going into detail with what we’re doing, I believe we know what the right work is, and the right type of work, and the right way to do it,” said Rivers when asked why this offseason will be different. “You can do the work all the time. But if it’s not done in the right way and the right type of work, you may not improve. After being here for a year, I really do believe we’ve identified what and how, and now we have to do the do part. We have to work to do it. It’s not going to be an easy job. But it’s definitely a job that Ben can do.”
Back in February, Simmons was named to Australia’s 24-man preliminary roster for the Olympics.
The Australian National Team are medal contenders at the Olympic Games and scheduled to begin training this week in Los Angeles.
They will play two exhibition games against Team USA next month in Las Vegas.
