7 NBA players that will remind you of LeBron James

1. Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)

LeBron has seen enough of himself in Ben Simmons that he’s taken the 23-year-old under his wing as a basketball player and a businessman. Simmons is signed to Klutch Sports, the agency run by LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul. LeBron calls Simmons his little brother and Simmons considers LeBron a mentor.

From his beginnings in Australia, to high school ball in Florida, to one collegiate year at LSU and now with the Philadelphia 76ers, Simmons followed the LeBron blueprint of the big playmaker (6’10”) with a third eye for passing.

Whereas LeBron has been listed at small forward for years but essentially plays point guard as his team’s primary ball-handler and best passer, Simmons has been penciled in at point guard in Philadelphia after playing forward at LSU.

He’s averaging around 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game and shooting over 55 percent from the field in his pro career. (Simmons missed the 2016-17 season with a foot injury after being the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft. In his official debut season of 2017-18, he won Rookie of the Year.)

Simmons infamously shies away from taking jump shots, preferring to get his buckets near the rim. He took a total of 18 3-pointers in his first two seasons (including the playoffs), missing all of them.

After a lot of talk this summer about working on his range and finally incorporating the deep ball into his arsenal, through Philly’s first five games this season Simmons has not yet pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer.

Some praise Simmons for understanding his weaknesses and playing to his strengths — traits he shares with LeBron as a high-IQ athlete committed to “playing the right way” — but Simmons also gets a lot of criticism and ridicule for his lack of shooting. Especially when it hurts his team and contributes to losses.

Even without the jump shot, Simmons is on a fast track to superstardom.

He made his All-Star Game debut last season. He guided the Sixers to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, and the team is a favorite to win the East in 2020. Simmons just missed a triple-double in his first playoff game (17 points, nine rebounds, 14 assists) and he’s since posted two playoff triple-doubles.

Simmons is a work in progress in some areas, but like LeBron, one thing he doesn’t have to work on is his preternatural passing ability. That will help him as he improves as a scorer, because double-teaming Simmons is already a dangerous ploy when he can and will find open teammates.

When Simmons was getting constant LeBron comparisons in high school in college, I was one of those who saw something else. The LeBron similarities were there, but I thought Simmons was actually closer to the kind of player that Lamar Odom was supposed to be.

If you’re familiar with Odom the young phenom and don’t focus on Odom the reality-TV cautionary tale, you know that the comparison is a compliment to Simmons.

While LeBron is a guard in a forward’s body, young Odom was a forward with a guard’s skill set. Subtle difference, but it’s a difference.

Before he went pro, Simmons was a beast of a rebounder and interior scorer who could also pass as well as anyone. He seemed like he’d be best at power forward. But since entering the NBA, Simmons has been a natural at point guard.

Many have drawn LeBron comparisons, but Simmons is one of the few who has shown real potential to live up to the hype.