Florida basketball player does something no NBA player has done in more than 30 years
Last year, Anfernee Simons was playing basketball in Bradenton. He chose to skip college and jump from IMG Academy to the NBA because he turned 19 and was a postgraduate player at IMG.
Those satisfied the NBA’s age restriction policy.
He found a home with the Portland Trail Blazers. With Portland already wrapping up a playoff berth, the Blazers rested most of their roster save for six players.
Among them was Simons getting his first career NBA start.
And he scored more points than anyone has making their first NBA career start since the 1985-86 season. Simons scored 37 points with nine assists and six rebounds in Portland’s 136-131 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
His performance helped Rip City jump to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and bump the Houston Rockets down to the No. 4 seed.
This story was originally published April 11, 2019 at 2:43 PM.
