Australian basketball sensation and NBA All-Star Ben Simmons has revealed his US home for the first time, which includes a room full of candy, a video gaming den, a tank of poisonous fish and a personalised neon sign.
The Philadelphia 76ers point guard, who last year signed a $170 million five-year extension to his contract, also let slip that his favourite sweet is the Aussie classic Cadbury Flake bar.
In an interview with Fortnite pro-gamer Faze Temperrr (aka Thomas Oliveira) for basketball magazine and website Slam he spoke about his love for gaming and gave an extensive tour, purportedly, of his $25,000 a month West Hollywood pad in Los Angeles.
The house tour starts with the reception area displaying a green neon sign “Simmo the Savage”, which has been Simmons gaming tag name since he began playing at a young age.
Ben’s brother Sean Tribe is seen in the video stating his brother’s ongoing fascination with the online craze.
“I knew he took this seriously when he was 10 or 11 years old.. I walked to get a glass of water at 2 o’clock in the morning and he was gaming with Dante Exum,” he said.
“First and foremost, NBA basketball player, but on the side, his hobby is gaming, and he is learning that business and looking to invest in that business as well.”
Ben ensures gaming is a part of his routine, to relax before a game.
“If I’m at home, my routine usually was — because I used to live in the city— go shoot, come back and play a couple of games, take a nap, then go [to the arena]. That would just relax me. I was playing PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), Call of Duty”, he told Slam.
Zeno, director of Sports at Slam asks Simmons and Temperrr what is the connection between the gaming world and basketball world.
“I think there has always been a connection, nowadays it’s so easy to connect with different people and it’s not looked at, as not cool,” Ben said.
Temperrr then described gaming as being accessible worldwide.
“Gaming is something anyone can do, anywhere, on their phones. Anywhere in the world,” he said.
The two-story 4,150 sq.ft house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms and an enclosed backyard with pool and spa
Another highlight of the 23-year-old’s new home is the hallway outside the gaming area, which is a sports collector’s dream.
Ben gives a tour of the signed framed jerseys of well-known athletes such as Vince Carter, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, Dirt Nowitzki, Lionel Messi and Leonard Fournette.
Down the hall leads to Simmons pool table which has his logo in the middle of it and and a large blue lit fish tank behind it.
Zeno then questions Simmons why he has poisonous fish in the tank and he replied, “I just told them to put crazy things in there”.
Another facet of the the Philadelphia 76ers personality is shown in his ‘candy kitchen’ where the room is filled with different types of sugary treats; including M&Ms, Kit-Kats and Skittles.
The Australian then drew perplexed responses form his American interviewers about his favourite sweet.
“I’m Australian so I like my Flakes,” he said.