Bobby Simmons (born June 2, 1980) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. In his career he played for five

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

teams. He won the

NBA Most Improved Player Award The NBA's Most Improved Player Award (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of s ...

in 2005.

College career

After graduating from

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's Neal F. Simeon High School, Simmons played three years of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

. During his three seasons at DePaul, Simmons averaged 13.6 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game.

Professional career

Washington Wizards (2001–2003)

Simmons was selected in the second round (41st pick overall) of the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, ...

by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. Simmons's draft rights were traded to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

for

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on June 27, 2001. Simmons was traded by the Wizards on September 11, 2002, shortly before the start of the

2002–03 NBA season The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in the 2003 NBA Finals. This would be Michael Jordan's last season in the NBA. ...

, to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

with

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 19 ...

and Richard Hamilton for

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

Brian Cardinal Brian Lee Cardinal (born May 2, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 456 games in the NBA between 2000 and 2012, and won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Before his NBA career, he was one o ...

, and

Ratko Varda Ratko Varda ( sr-cyr, Ратко Варда; born May 6, 1979) is a Serbian-Bosnian former basketball player who played professionally for 22 years. Standing at , he played the center position. He first represented FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montene ...

. He was released by the Pistons on September 24 and, less than two weeks later, signed with the Wizards again on October 10.

Los Angeles Clippers (2003–2005)

Simmons signed a free-agent contract with the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

on September 26, 2003. The ,

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

had a breakout year during the

2004–05 NBA season The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, 4–3, i ...

with the Los Angeles Clippers in which he averaged a career-high 16.4 points per game. He was rewarded for his stellar play with the

Milwaukee Bucks (2005–2008)

Simmons signed a free-agent contract with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

on August 8, 2005, shortly after the new collective bargaining agreement was finalized. Since his breakout year with the Clippers, Simmons struggled to reach the same level of play. In his first year with the Bucks, his points, rebounds and shooting percentages all declined. Then in 2006, an ankle injury forced him to miss the entire 2006–07 season.

New Jersey Nets (2008–2010)

Simmons was traded along with

Yi Jianlian Yi Jianlian ( ; born October 27, 1987) is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He has also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwauk ...

to the

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for

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on ESPN. He played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. Jefferson was drafted in the first round of the 200 ...

on June 26, 2008, just a few hours before that year's NBA draft. While his season was not as productive as before, he still managed to finish 5th in the league in 3-point shooting percentage.

San Antonio Spurs (2010)

In September 2010, Simmons signed with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

; however, the team waived him in November after he went scoreless in 2 games played.

Reno Bighorns (2011–2012)

In March 2011, Simmons signed with the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

of the NBA D-League.

Return to the Clippers (2012)

On February 27, 2012, the

signed Simmons to a 10-day contract. On March 9, 2012, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Clippers. He signed a contract for the rest of the season on March 24, 2012. Simmons' final NBA game was Game 4 of the 2012 Western Conference Semi-Finals against the San Antonino Spurs on May 20th, 2012. In his final game, Simmons recorded 2 points on 25% FG shooting in 6 and half minutes of playing time. This was the end of the Clippers' season as they lost Game 4 99 - 102 and thus were swept by the Spurs. In December 2012, Simmons said that he was still interested in playing professional basketball.

Off the court

Simmons and Lavelle Sykes founded a Chicago clothing store called Succezz. Simmons also owns a nightclub in Chicago called Society.March Madness legend: Bobby Simmons
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NBA career statistics

Regular season

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, 36 , , 2 , , 10.5 , , .393 , , .000 , , .914 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 56 , , 8 , , 24.6 , , .394 , , .167 , , .834 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .3 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 75 , , 74 , , 37.3 , , .466 , , .435 , , .846 , , 5.9 , , 2.7 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 16.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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, 70 , , 21 , , 21.7 , , .421 , , .351 , , .757 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

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, 2 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 28 , , 0 , , 14.9 , , .311 , , .333 , , .571 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 466 , , 228 , , 24.7 , , .437 , , .396 , , .823 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.0

Playoffs

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, 5 , , 5 , , 31.8 , , .333 , , .417 , , .000 , , 3.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 4 , , 1 , , 8.0 , , .556 , , .250 , , .000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , 6 , , 21.1 , , .373 , , .375 , , .000 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 4.9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Bobby 1980 births Living people American men's basketball players DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers players Milwaukee Bucks players Mobile Revelers players New Jersey Nets players Reno Bighorns players San Antonio Spurs players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Small forwards Washington Wizards players Basketball players from Chicago