{"id":159131,"date":"2025-09-16T00:20:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159131"},"modified":"2025-09-16T00:20:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:20:37","slug":"ben-simmons-has-1-word-response-to-retirement-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/16\/ben-simmons-has-1-word-response-to-retirement-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Simmons Has 1-Word Response To Retirement Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So far gone are the days when he was considered to be at the top of his game, free agent point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Simmons<\/a> undoubtedly isn&#8217;t where he wants to be in his NBA career. All the same, on the heels of a report stating that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/03\/knicks-free-agent-target-ben-simmons-retirement\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">he&#8217;s considering retirement<\/a>, the 29-year-old doesn&#8217;t appear ready to hang up his jersey after all.<\/p>\n<h2>Ben Simmons Has 1-Word Response To Retirement Rumors<\/h2>\n<p>On Instagram, user <em>brandoncisneros48<\/em> commented on a picture of Simmons and asked: &#8220;is bro retired?&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ben Simmons says he is NOT retiring <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vqIiGMQ4La\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/vqIiGMQ4La<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Fullcourtpass\/status\/1967716686389448979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The former first overall pick swiftly, and succinctly, responded: &#8220;no&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With that, Simmons has quieted one of the major questions about where he stands right now. Usually, players don&#8217;t retire from the game of basketball in their 20s. However, back problems have ended players careers prematurely before. The most well-known example may be Hall of Fame forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Bird<\/a>. Though Bird dominated the NBA for 13 seasons, winning three MVP awards and three titles, he was unable to play past 35 due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketballnetwork.net\/old-school\/how-building-a-new-driveway-for-his-mom-was-the-end-for-larry-bird\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">chronic back pain<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_159134\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-159134\" style=\"width: 1759px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-159134\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1759\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres.jpg 1759w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_13913506_168404789_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1759px) 100vw, 1759px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-159134\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 15, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) drives against Brooklyn Nets center DeAndre Jordan (6) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Jordan suffered an apparent injury to his hand on the play. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Simmons hasn&#8217;t reached nearly the heights that Bird has, nor has he played as long. Credited with seven years of NBA service, his most noteworthy accomplishments are three All-Star appearances, two All-Defensive selections, one All-NBA selection and the 2018 Rookie of the Year award. Furthermore, he frankly hasn&#8217;t displayed the same killer instinct as Bird, though he does deserve credit for the mental toughness it takes to battle through waves of injuries and criticism. Nevertheless, there&#8217;s assuredly overlap in the issues that prevented them from being their best self.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, there remains the chance that Simmons retires early, even if it won&#8217;t be today.<\/p>\n<h3>Who Could Sign Him?<\/h3>\n<p>Simmons does still hold value to teams, particularly contenders. That&#8217;s why he&#8217;s been contacted by several since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/08\/ben-simmons-agrees-nets-buyout-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">reaching a buyout<\/a> with the Brooklyn Nets before the 2025 NBA Playoffs. This offseason, his primary suitors have seemingly been the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n<p>However, with the Knicks signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brogdma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malcolm Brogdon<\/a> over the weekend, they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/14\/knicks-rumors-major-training-camp-competition-3-trade-candidates-cam-payne-trey-jemison-and-thomas-bryant\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">appear to have moved on<\/a> from the picky playmaker. The Kings could still be an option, though they sound <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/25\/ben-simmons-is-better-for-kings-russell-westbrook\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">captivated by the idea<\/a> of signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a>. Thus, Boston may be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/21\/celtics-looking-sign-former-no-1-pick-ben-simmons\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his most feasible destination<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Though Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has built his offense around the 3-ball that Simmons shies away from, he&#8217;s a jumbo-sized playmaker that helps them replace what they&#8217;re losing from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> until his return and an exceptional point-of-attack defender that can supplant the traded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a>. He could even take on some of the situational defensive responsibilities of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/horfoal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al Horford<\/a>, who&#8217;s widely <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/16\/warriors-to-add-al-horford-starting-lineup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">expected to sign with<\/a> the Golden State Warriors. A hybrid big man at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Horford has a rather useful blend of size, fluidity, agility and defensive mastery.<\/p>\n<p>Just based on his skillset, he could be a dark horse candidate to join the Atlanta Hawks. For starters, the Hawks don&#8217;t have a firm backup for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a>. That long-time issue <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/15\/hawks-dump-first-round-picks-salary-after-just-2-seasons\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">has just been exacerbated<\/a> by them trading 2023 No. 15 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bufkiko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bufkin<\/a> to the Brooklyn Nets. Additionally, Atlanta has multiple stretch-centers, minimizing the spacing concerns that would come with Simmons&#8217;s addition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So far gone are the days when he was considered to be at the top of his game, free agent point guard Ben Simmons undoubtedly isn&#8217;t where he wants to be in his NBA career. All the same, on the heels of a report stating that he&#8217;s considering retirement, the 29-year-old doesn&#8217;t appear ready to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":159140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,1608,5,6,27,12,3,29],"tags":[250,266,798,239,4848,609,297,53,1349],"class_list":["post-159131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nets","category-clippers","category-knicks","category-news","category-kings","tag-al-horford","tag-ben-simmons","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-kobe-bufkin","tag-malcolm-brogdon","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-trae-young"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159141,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159131\/revisions\/159141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}