World B. Free was recently honored by the Cleveland Cavaliers during a game against the 76ers, and after he was honored he took some time to talk to the Cavs broadcast team. As it turns out, he claimed young Sixers forward Ben Simmons and his size.
Free was asked about Simmons’ potential to play point guard at his size, and he claimed that Simmons is now bigger than when he entered the league:
It seems like Ben Simmons grew about two inches since he’s been here. I told him that the other day, I said Ben, you look like you’ve grown another two inches since you’ve been here.
He’s long, he’s lean, he’s in shape. When I watch him in practice — just in practice — he’s like a baby Magic Johnson. He’s practiced with LeBron, he has worked out with LeBron, so LeBron is probably going to beat him up and make him strong.
94WIP’s Jon Johnson backed up that claim, tweeting that Simmons is indeed just under seven feet tall.
Can confirm Ben Simmons is just under 7'.
— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) April 6, 2017
If Simmons has experienced growth spurts that drastic, it would go a long way toward explaining why his rehab process has taken a lot longer than expected. Considering his new listed height may be 6’11” next season, I don’t think there’s anything “baby” about the comparison to Magic Johnson.
[Big shout out to PrimeCurry on r/NBA for digging this up]