Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown says Sixers All-Star point forward Ben Simmons is the fastest player he’s ever seen.
Brown coached Tony Parker when he was an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and says Parker is the only player who he thinks comes close to Simmons' speed when he has the ball in his hands.
“Tony Parker was the closest and I even think Ben is faster than that,” Brown said, via Michael Pina of SB Nation. “There are times when we all think ‘oh he’s really fast.’ What I do is count the steps from foul line to foul line and there aren’t many. Count the dribbles. There aren’t many. He covers ground quicker than anybody I think that I’ve ever coached and the closest would be Tony.
”And you’d all go back and you’d look at Russell Westbrook, maybe early days Derrick Rose. John Wall. Like, those greyhounds that just take off. But really, forget your stopwatch, count the dribbles and count the steps. He is elite when it comes to that part of the game.”
According to private data provided to SB Nation by NBA Advanced Stats, Simmons’ top recorded speed this year was 19.7 miles per hour, which translates to him racing the length of a court in roughly 3.25 seconds.
Simmons is 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds. The Sixers' floor general may not be able to shoot yet, but he's a one-man fast break, can get to the rim whenever he wants and finish in heavy traffic with either hand.
During the regular season, Simmons averaged 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game for the Sixers. The lefty shot 56.3 percent from the field, doing all of his damage in the paint.
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