“Ben Simmons defends point guards better than Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade”: An interesting statistic shows the 25-year old’s versatility as a defender

An interesting statistic reveals Ben Simmons has guarded each position at least 10% of the time and restricted the opposing player under their normal production.

Though Simmons has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, one cannot deny the 25-year old’s exceptional defensive abilities. The 76ers point guard can be a nightmare for the opposition on defense.

A back-to-back NBA All-Defensive First Team and led the league in steals during 2020, Simmons definitely makes use of his size and strength.

An interesting statistic reveals that the 3x All-Star has defended all the 5 positions at some point or the other. Simmons has restricted the opposition’s offensive efficiency.

Also read: “Did the Warriors announcer just call Ben Simmons a top 7 player in the NBA?”: NBA fans react to the Sixers star being praised at Summer League amidst trade rumors

The following is a detailed study about Simmons’ defensive efficiency and how his great ability to guard opposition has gone unnoticed.

Ben Simmons has defended all 5 basketball positions at least 10% of the time

Ben Simmons is the only player in the NBA to guard each position at least 10% of the time and hold the opposing player under their normal production (points per 100 poss) at all 5 positions https://t.co/wMZGhjGjUm (look at PLAYER_PTS_DIFF columns and %PG, %SG, etc.) https://t.co/tRxlgvGh4H

— Krishna Narsu (@knarsu3) April 10, 2019

Simmons has defended the point guard position at 17.64% of his time and restricted his opponent by -2.66 from his original production. During which the team’s efficiency has fallen by -5.72 as well.

On the other hand, Simmons has defended the shooting guard position at 21.3%. That has restricted the opposing player to -0.26 from his original efficiency. An interesting observation here is James Harden defending the shooting guard position at 27.8%.

While guarding players such as Jimmy Butler and Khris Middleton, Simmon has reduced their efficiency by -2.75 from their original production. The 76ers guard has guarded the SF position 23% of his time.

While Jeff Green can be tough to get past at the power forward position since he guards the position 36.2% of his time, Simmon is no less who guards the position at 27.4% of his time. There is a decrease by -3.34 points from what the player would originally score if Simmons wouldn’t guard him.

Also read: “If Ben Simmons makes 75-80% FTs, he can average 23-25 points per game”: Stephen A Smith has a bold prediction for the Sixers’ star while advocating a Warriors trade

Usually, the most difficult place for a point guard to defend is the center position. The 6’10 Simmons spends 10.69% of his time defending the above position. However, this is where Simmons is the most dangerous, bringing the opposition player’s production by at least -3.8%.