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Ben Simmons, Projected NBA Top Pick, Subject Of Showtime Documentary, ‘One & Done’

blame it on Meka June 21, 2016
ben-simmons-one-done

Spoiler alert: Ben Simmons will be the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, headed to the Philadelphia 76ers. He will also star in his very own special on Showtime, before he even plays a single meaningful game.

In October, SHOWTIME Sports will debut the documentary One & Done, which will chronicle Simmons’ journey from a Melbourne, Australia kid to a top-ranked high school prospect, from LSU star to the top draft pick in the NBA.

[The film] examines the sprawling journey of Simmons from his Australian upbringing, to high school and college in America, to the top of the rookie class in the world’s foremost basketball league. Simmons endeavors to fulfill a lifelong dream, one shared by his family, including father David Simmons, a New York City native who played 13 professional seasons in the Australian National Basketball League.

The production, led by executive producers Maura Mandt (There’s No Place Like Home, Of Miracles And Men), Dave Chamberlin and Josh Swade, has been underway for two years with exclusive, intimate access to the highly touted, 19-year-old power forward from Melbourne. At the heart of the film is Simmons’ time on the NCAA men’s basketball team at Louisiana State University where he played his one and done year in order to satisfy a rule regulating eligibility for the NBA Draft. Production continues this week, as Simmons, his fellow NBA prospects and the basketball industry descend on Brooklyn, N.Y. for the 2016 NBA Draft.

The documentary will also touch upon its namesake rule in the NBA, which — enacted in 2006 — required that all high school players must be both at least 19 years old and one year removed from graduation in order to be eligible for the NBA Draft.

Case in point, Brandon Jennings: after graduating from high school in, he eschewed college to play professionally in the Euroleague.

One & Done is co-directed by Mandt and Swade.