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For the past two seasons, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons has had no trouble making it to the NBA All-Star Game. Not only did he impress other league players, the media, and NBA coaches, but the fans also backed him up with the vote.
This year, fans turned their interest elsewhere. While Simmons placed in the Top 10 in the voting after the first wave of fan votes was revealed, he fell out of favor as the weeks passed. Overall, Simmons finished 11th in fan voting with 366,887 votes.
Since fan votes play a big role in who enters the big game, it looked like Simmons could miss the All-Star Game this season. However, the other categories saved the place for him. Coming sixth overall by votes from Eastern Conference players and seventh overall by the media, Simmons was not eliminated at all.
And by the time Tuesday rolled around, Simmons found that Eastern Conference coaches helped solidify his place on an NBA All-Star roster as he earned the nod for the third time in a row in his four-year career.
“I think that means more than fan votes and things like that,” Simmons said Tuesday of winning over the coaches. “Just because they watch the game, they know it. They come to the games every night. They see the talent and there are a lot of talented guys, but I’m the type of player who can do a lot of things on the court. I’m glad so many coaches do. appreciate and see it. “
Last week, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers took time to call in some of his fellow Eastern Conference coaches to campaign for Simmons and Tobias Harris. Interestingly, the coaches were confused as to why Rivers felt he needed to promote the 24-year-old guard.
“Every coach I talked to, literally every Eastern coach I talked to when I said ‘Hey, I’m calling on Ben and Tobias’ behalf’ and they said, ‘Ben? Why are you calling for him?'” Rivers said. “It was funny how they saw him and how the outside world saw him. I thought it was interesting. I was quite confident. I told Ben, there’s no way you’re not here. “
Rivers was right. Next month, Simmons will join teammate Joel Embiid and the entire Sixers coaching staff for All-Star activities next month in Atlanta.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
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