Ben Simmons’ NBA career has taken a nosedive since emerging as the NBA’s first major talent out of Australia. After foregoing his initial year of eligibility in the NBA due to injury, his first four years in the league after that were filled with accolades such as Rookie of the Year, three-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA All-Defensive Team
After a long off-and-on relationship with Kendall Jenner, Simmons met TV host Maya Jama, who was coming out of a four-year relationship with rapper Stormzy.
The exact details are hard to pinpoint, but somewhere in there, Simmons and Jama developed a relationship and got engaged less than a year after falling for each other. They even made an appearance walking and holding hands at Wimbledon in 2021, which had social media buzzing.
Maya James Breaks Up With Brooklyn Nets Guard Ben Simmons, Moves To UK To Pursue Career
Their relationship hit a roadblock when Jama decided that she wanted to pursue her career in the U.K. and the couple called it quits.
According to Fox, Simmons, who has become known for his self-centered pettiness throughout the league, served Jama a legal notice asking to return the engagement ring that reportedly cost “around $ 1 million.”
Jama, who clearly is a woman about her business and not messy situations, returned the ring.
From that moment everything changed for Simmons and Maya as their lives went in different directions.
Ben Simmons Already Out With Injury
To no one’s surprise, the Nets announced on Monday that Ben Simmons will not be playing against the Nuggets due to lower back injury management. Simmons has been healthy since training camp and is averaging a respectable 24.0 minutes per game through Brooklyn’s first three games.
Since the 2021-22 season Ben Simmons has played just 60 total games. Simmons has lost plenty of luster as a viable NBA player. From his embarrassing Philly departure to his tumultuous relationship with head coach Doc Rivers and his teammates to his refusal to shoot the basketball. Then his holdout and the back injury and his refusal to suit up for a Nets team with title possibilities.
Despite his downward spiral, there are still fans who believe he will return to the player that was a defensive stalwart who terrorized smaller guards, could also pass like a point guard, rebound like a power forward and score if needed due to his 6-foot-10 size.
This season, Simmons has at least appeared in three games and he’s averaging half a triple double with 5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line as the second point-guard in the starting lineup alongside Dennis Schroder for a 1-2 Nets team.
Simmons Entering Last Season Of $177M Contract Extension Signed In 2020
Things aren’t looking up for Simmons outside of his enormous contract. Simmons signed a four-year $26.6 million rookie scale deal prior to him stepping on an NBA court.
By 2019, his stock was exploding, and the Sixers were buying, dishing out a max contract extension that awarded him a $177 million bag over five years.
The health problems hit and his game disappeared. Now his big-time NBA contract will disappear too as he is in the last season of that whopping contract extension he signed with the Sixers back in 2020. There won’t be any more of those the way Simmons has played and his inability to stay healthy.
Maya Jama Plant-Based Milk StartUp Made $4.1M In 2024
Meanwhile, in just a matter of years, Maya Jama has exploded as a popular radio and TV host
“Everything Maya touches turns to gold and companies are fighting to work with her,” one close friend allegedly said to the Daily Mail in reference to Maya’s current industry rise.
Her next step in business is destined to take her to another level and incorporate her Swedish heritage as the co-owner of Sproud, a fast-growing pea milk brand that is looking to expand in the European market with this new partnership.
“I’ve been secretly up to some business & so excited being part Swedish & joining forces with this incredible Swedish brand that makes the BEST PLANT-BASED MILK OUT! I am honestly so gassed and can not wait to see where we can take this,” Maya Jama wrote on her Instagram.
The startup generated a turnover of $4.1 million last year, reportedly a 37 percent increase in their revenue.
The product is booming as it offers a combination of health benefits and attractive packaging, featuring zebra patterns on the bottle providing a look of sophistication for a milk replacement that can feed a rising demand for such products as the world becomes more health conscious.
Maya says that this is just her first business venture. She didn’t have to live in the shadow of Simmons or define her worth by his wins and losses or whims. It seems as if she is in a much better space as Simmons has battled mental health issues as well as all of the other drama that he faced in the past three years.
“I wanted to get involved in things outside of entertainment and this is just the beginning,” Jama said.
So, after bouncing to the U.K. and leaving her boyfriend Simmons and whatever he had going on, Jama is drama-free and fully realizing her potential. Simmons probably will be looking for another team in 2025.
