2016 NBA Draft: Can Ben Simmons Pull Off a Karl-Anthony Towns? Kobe Bryant Intrigued with LSU's Simmons

By Mitch de Leon
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant, Lakers shooting guard, stands ready to shoot a free throw during Tuesday nights pre-season game against the Golden State Warriors. Bryant was essential in bringing together a large point gap late in the second quarter, after the Warriors took the early lead. Wikemedia

As the NBA season heats up, sports analysts look into the potential draft picks for 2016. While it remains to be seen which basketball squad would be the top team for the pick; some NBA hopefuls are already lined up ripe for the picking. One of the most popular names thrown into the list of possible top draft picks is Ben Simmons from the Louisiana State University (LSU).

Some experts believe that the Australian power forward can be the next Karl-Anthony Davis. As the leading player of the LSU Tigers, Simmons is pegged as the top NBA draft pick in 2016. In fact, even basketball legend Kobe Bryant is in the belief that the 19-year-old star has the potential to make it big in the league. Apart from praising Simmons, the Los Angeles Lakers star went on to share great pieces of advice to the budding NBA hopeful.

"He's a fantastic player," shared Bryant during an NBA-sanctioned conference call with international media, according to Los Angeles Daily News. He added, "He obviously has a tremendous amount of potential."

Bryant continued to state that Simmons could continue to grow as long as the young star remains aggressive in his goals to succeed in basketball. The Los Angeles Lakers star said, "It's just a matter of what he wants to take on. Do you have the attitude that winning championships is your only mission and your only goal? If you don't win a championship, the season is a failure. If you have that attitude, the city will absolutely love you and you'll get this team back to playing and winning at a level that it's accustomed to."

The veteran guard added that the "key" to excelling "is loving what you do." Bryant shared, "If you love getting ready, you love training and you love preparing just as much as you love the result of winning even more so the result of winning, and then you know you have something truly, truly special."

For his part, Simmons has shown grit and determination in his stint with the LSU. When asked regarding his growing fame courtesy of the media coverage of his games, the Aussie star shrugged off the praises.

"I'm just Ben, just another college kid playing basketball," said Simmons of his popularity, according to The Times-Picayune. He added, "I don't think of myself as anybody different than my teammates or guys I play against."

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