Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons has established himself as one of the NBA’s best playmakers, and on Friday night, he achieved a milestone that put him with two of the best playmakers in league history.
According to Justin Kubatko of Stat Muse, Simmons became the third-fastest player in league history to record 25 career triple-doubles in the Sixers’ loss to the Houston Rockets. Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson are first and second, respectively, on the list for fastest in reaching 25 career triple-doubles.
Simmons earned his third triple-double of the season, scoring a team-high 29 points. He also recorded a team-high 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
At 6-foot-10, Simmons has the court vision of a point guard. With his size, he can drive into the lane for buckets and also defend multiple positions. Simmons ranks fourth in the league for assists per game and first in steals.
Ben Simmons recorded his 25th career triple-double last night. Simmons reached that mark in just 195 games, third fastest in NBA history behind Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) January 4, 2020
While he’s a premier playmaker, a concern with Simmons is that he’s sometimes not aggressive enough when it comes to scoring.
He doesn’t need to shoot a bunch of jumpers, but with his size, he should look to work inside and around the post for buckets as much as possible. He’s averaging 14.9 points a game, which is down from the 16.9 points he averaged last season.
Last night Ben Simmons recorded his 25th career game with a triple-double.
He's now third on the all-time list for triple-doubles in a player's first 3 seasons.
87 — Oscar Robertson
31 — Magic Johnson
25 — Ben Simmons pic.twitter.com/qfJkv9xQ4f— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 4, 2020
With the Sixers on a four-game losing streak, they’ll look to get a win in Philly against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
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