Ben Simmons is trying to fill a different kind of net these days.
The Nets flameout, who hasn’t suited up since an 18-game stint with the Clippers to close out the 2024-25 season, purchased a controlling share in the South Florida Sails Angling Club, a member of the 16-team Sport Fishing Championship.
“It’s a very niche sport,” he told Andscape. “And if you don’t know, you don’t know. But once you experience it and get out there and see what it’s about, you’re kind of in awe of what the sport is. And that’s just something I’ve always been interested in in terms of the sport of fishing. The technique. And there’s so much to it that people just don’t understand. These guys are fishing on million-dollar vessels, and they’re out for days at a time. So, it’s tedious and gritty, but a lot of fun. It’s one of those worlds where you just got to kind of experience it, get into it and see what it’s about.”
Instead of making a hooping comeback, Simmons now has his sights set on picking up points for scoring marlins and sailfish, comparing the SFC to LIV Golf.
The SFC, founded in 2021, is made up of teams competing internationally across North America.
It counts Scottie Scheffler, Austin Dillon, Raheem Mostert, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III and Brian Kelley among its other sports celebrity owners.
It represents a change for the 2016 No. 1 overall draft pick, who began his NBA career as Rookie of the Year with the 76ers, but quickly devolved into a mess of a player who resisted shooting and struggled with injuries and mental health.
Simmons, acquired by the Nets in a Feb. 2022 trade that sent James Harden to Philadelphia, quickly became the poster child for overpaid and underwhelming NBA players, playing just 90 games over two-plus seasons in Brooklyn while in the midst of a five-year, $177 million contract.
He averaged just 6.5 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game in the disastrous stint before he was bought out by the Nets in Feb. 2025 and signed a league-minimum deal to finish out the season with the Clippers.
The Knicks were rumored to have interest in the three-time All-Star before the 2025-26 season, but nothing materialized. He openly questioned whether he wanted to return to the NBA.
Instead, he headed for open waters on his 53-center console boat — named “The Real One Fishing Club Boat” — to engage in a lifelong passion that traces back to his youth in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Simmons did divulge that he’s doing two-a-day workouts in Los Angeles in an effort to possibly be ready to hit the hardcourt by the All-Star break, but isn’t just going to take any opportunity.
“I don’t believe it’s just [about] getting on a team,” Simmons said. “So, if I were to play right now, I think I’d fit right into the NBA just given what I can do. But I want to give everything I can to the game. I don’t think there’s any point in just wasting a spot just to be out there. I think that’s a little selfish. And there are guys that do it now. But that’s what it is, the business.
“For me, I’m very blessed to not have to be in that situation where I need to fight right now. But I want to get to the best of my ability and physical peak to compete. Otherwise, it doesn’t really serve me any purpose.”
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