Philadelphia 76ers point forward Ben Simmons was as the NBA's best rookie last season. For his next individual goal, the Sixers rising star is aiming for the Most Valuable Player Award.
As reported by James McKern of Sporting News:
“I knocked off one of those (RoY), the next one is MVP.”
Simmons took the Rookie of the Year honors last year but not without controversy. To recall, Simmons was the first overall pick in 2016. But during the Sixers' training camp, he sustained an injury which subsequently ruled him out of the season. He came back strong the following year. And given that he did not play a single game the previous year, the NBA rules state that Simmons is still a rookie.
As the season progressed, Simmons and another top rookie in Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz got into a little rivalry, leading up to the NBA Awards. But when Simmons was declared the winner, the two eventually put the beef to a halt.
Of course, Simmons' goal of winning an individual accolade is just a small piece of his bigger goal: to win a championship. But first, he knows that they have to go further than the second round and beat the Boston Celtics — the top team in the Eastern Conference.
“We've got to get past Boston, those are the guys at the top right now. Beating them, that's our next goal. Obviously getting further than the second round and winning the Eastern Conference Finals and then moving on to the Finals.”
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