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Gary Payton is regarded as one of the best point guards to ever play in the NBA and now he has urged Aussie star Ben Simmons to abandon any hopes of playing at the Olympics to resurrect his flagging NBA career. 

Payton, who was nicknamed ‘The Glove’ because of his defensive prowess, is in Australia to host Gary Payton’s Block Party for NBA fans.

The star guard was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1990 NBA draft, had a storied 17-year career spanning five teams, most notably with the SuperSonics. 

Payton was a 9-time NBA All-Star, won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1996, and earned a championship ring with the Miami Heat in 2006. 

Over his career, he amᴀssed 21,813 points, 5269 rebounds, and 8,966 ᴀssists, solidifying his legacy as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history and earning him a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Simmons has struggled to stay on the court throughout his career with a series of physical injuries and mental health battles

NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton, who is in Sydney to meet fans at Gary Payton’s Block Party in Manly, believes Simmons should give up on playing at the Olympics

Simmons is injured again and will sit out the rest of the NBA season, meaning he was unlikely to play in Paris anyway

On the flipside, Simmons’ NBA career has been significantly hampered by injuries since he was drafted first overall in 2016, missing his entire rookie season due to a foot injury. 

His health issues persisted with back and knee injuries leading to significant absences, including being sidelined for the entire 2021-22 season and parts of other seasons. 

Despite brief returns to form, recurring back problems have continued to plague Simmons, limiting his playtime and leading to him being shut down for the season multiple times, most recently in the 2023-24 season after playing just 15 games. 

Australian Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian recently revealed that Simmons was gearing up to play at the 2024 Paris Olympics before his latest injury setback.

Payton won an NBA championship with Miami and was nicknamed ‘The Glove’ because of his defensive prowess

Now Payton has said that Simmons needs to abandon any hope of playing for the Boomers in France, even if he can stage a miraculous comeback from the injury. 

‘What Ben needs to do is get himself fully healthy,’ he said.

‘He should’t come back until he is fully healthy because his athletic ability and his talent has no question and doubt that he can play in the NBA.

‘I think he needs to work on the things that he needs to work on.’

‘I think he should skip the Olympics,’ he said.

‘I get it, everybody is pressuring him to play for his country.

‘But you have to understand, Ben hasn’t been able to play a full season in the NBL almost in his whole career.

‘I think he should be concentrating on what his job is, and his job is in the NBA in the team he playing for right now.

‘He has a lot of basketball left in him. A couple more Olympics are going to come. He can do that another time.’

Veteran Patty Mills is likely to be Australia’s point guard again at the Paris Olympics

OKC Thunder star Josh Giddey will also share the point guard duties, giving the Boomers plenty of NBA experience in Paris

Payton believes that Simmons needs to shut out all external influences to focus on his recovery and eventual return for the Nets. 

‘My main thing to him is to stop paying attention to social media and all his critics,’ he said.

‘Forget the critics, just play basketball and do what he has to do and he will be fine.

‘Once he gets back, show that he can play in this league and show that he is the basketball player that was picked [in the NBA draft] at No.1 and I think he will be just fine.’