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Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons got a fresh start with an NBA team last year. Now, he's getting a fresh start with his representation.
The former All-Star and his agents at Klutch Sports Group have mutually decided to part ways, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. The two sides reportedly reached the decision after a conversation earlier this week.
Klutch has counted Simmons as a client since he entered the NBA Draft in 2016 and was chosen first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers after an All-America season at LSU. The agency helped negotiate the five-year, $177 million contract extension Simmons signed in 2019. That partnership also saw Simmons land endorsement deals with Nike, Beats by Dre, Foot Locker, Upper Deck and more.
Where does Ben Simmons go from here?
Simmons' career has taken a turn since that 2019 payday. Klutch represented him during his ugly divorce from the Sixers, as he sat out the season after demanding a trade and eventually landed with the Nets. Those off-court woes then gave way to on-court ones, as Simmons has looked like a different player with the Nets — and not in a good way.
The 26-year-old is currently averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 26.3 minutes per game, all career lows. Even when adjusting for time or number of possessions, he's scoring at the lowest rate of his career.
He also hasn't played since Feb. 15, sitting out the past month with what the Nets have been calling left knee soreness.
The Nets, in the midst of a rebuild after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, have Simmons under contract for two more seasons at a salary of $37.9 million in 2023-24 and $40.3 million in 2024-25.
Even with all that money tying Simmons to the Nets, the future of his career is as hazy as it has ever been. At his best, Simmons was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and capable distributor for the Sixers, but he hasn't been that kind of player in a Brooklyn uniform. Even taking the line of a mutual parting of ways as fact, it's easy to see why Klutch consented to let him go.
The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski reported Simmons is expected to sign with veteran agent Bernie Lee, who represents a number of NBA veterans. If that's the case, Lee could be helping to navigate any number of outcomes once Simmons' contract plays out.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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