Up to now, Ben Simmons has not played a single game for Sixers in the regular season. However fans already love him and they show it by purchasing his merchandise at a rapid rate. His jersey is listed at one of the best selling merchandise among NBA players.
Fanatics.com, the largest online retailer of sports apparel and merchandise, reported that Simmons' merhandise is the 10th-best seller among the NBA players, as quoted by Philly.com. Demand for his merchandise helped online shop for Sixers merchandise to have 76 percent increase in sales compared to July 2015.
Based on the NBA merchandise sales from June 23 to Aug. 31, the highest ranking are in the following orders: LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Russell Westbrook, and Simmons.
That shows what fans of Philadelphia 76ers have high expectation for Simmons. When the Sixers drafted him on June 23, fans started to purchase his jerseys at a rapid rate before he even plays one game in regular season, according to Fox Sports. International fans from Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney are among the top five cities for total sales of Simmons merchandise.
Simmons was born in Melbourne from an American father and Australian mother. His father Dave is professional basketball player who played in New South Wales, Australia in the 1990's. Simmons holds dual American and Australian citizenship.
During his one season in NCAA with LSU, Simmons averaged 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Known as an all-around player, he is also strong in defense with 11.8 block per game and 2,0 steal per game.
Philadelphia 76ers selected the 6'10" forward as the first overall pick in 2016 NBA draft. For years, the Sixers has been struggling to build strong team by assemblying prospective young talents such as Joel Embid, Nerlens Noel, Dario Saric and Jahlil Okafor. Now, with Simmons joins the roster, fans expect to see him bringing the Sixers to higher level.
Simmons will begin his first NBA regular season game with Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 4, visiting Boston Celtics in Mullin Center Stadium.
