On November 30, Beijing time, 2017 is about to enter the last month.

118-97, the Houston Rockets came back to win the Indiana Pacers at the Toyota Center, ending the entire November game with a proud record of 12 wins and 1 loss.

Although the Pacers bit the score at halftime and trailed by only 5 points, James Harden broke out in the third quarter, scoring 13 points in a single quarter and contributing 29 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists to take the game away.

Yang Yiming played 25 minutes and efficiently scored 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block and 2 steals, continuing his competitive performance.

But this night, the name of the protagonist of the entire NBA arena is called Ben Simmons.

1/

My name is Ben Simmons.

I am originally from Australia and was born in the city of Melbourne. My father, David Simmons, was from the United States, and my mother, Julie, was Australian, and they met in Melbourne when my father, David, was playing for the Melbourne Tigers. In 1989-1993, three years before I was born, then Tigers head coach Brett Brown was the coach of what I am now with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Before I met my father, my mother, Julie, was a single mother with four children, Melissa, Emily, Liam, and Sean. Then they got married, and I added my sister Olivia and me. I was the youngest child in my family, but my parents always raised our six siblings as if they were children of our original family.

Philadelphia.

I'm a kid of the city now.

Every time the lights of the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia went out and lit up explosively, the 20,000 fans in the stadium appeared in front of me wearing retro jerseys with "PHILA" written on them, and the cheers seemed to grow louder and louder and clearer, and I was actually in a trance.

I sometimes can't believe I'm standing in this stadium and enjoying such a treat.

I was born on July 20, 1996, 19 years old, and am a tall defender from the kangaroo kingdom of the Southern Hemisphere.

The most popular team ball game in our country is Australian Rules Football, followed by cricket, then football, and basketball can only be ranked fourth. Oh, and I forgot to mention that there are also sports like tennis, swimming, and triathlon, which also get a lot more attention than basketball. Even I used to swing around basketball and Australian Rules Football, and I didn't pick basketball until I was 14 – if my coach hadn't asked me to play as a scramler, maybe I would be very different now.

Does this story sound similar to that of a Philadelphia senior? Yes, he's also my idol, and I've been hanging his poster on my bedside since I was a child, and when I look up, his number 3 shirt is flying high, sandwiched between the number 10 of the other two team legends, Maurice Cheeks and the number 34 of Charles Barkley.

But I sometimes forget that I'm a draft pick like Iverson.

Last summer, my father's former head coach Blake Brown drafted me for the 76ers.

The first draft pick in history with no NCAA experience. 38-71, my team led Louisiana State University suffered a crushing defeat to Texas A&M and returned home in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference, missing out on the NCAA National Finals. Some people questioned my quality.

Fracture of the fifth metatarsal of the right foot. Before the NBA even started, I sprained my right ankle in training camp and was reimbursed for the entire season. The road to recovery was long, and those days were undoubtedly dark. The team's focus last year was naturally on my good friend Joel Embiid, who was standing next to me, and then they drafted Markelle Fultz, who was also the top pick, and I was out of the spotlight, except for the sweaty recovery, just sitting on the sidelines and watching them play. The team specially assigned me an assistant coach to help me break down the tactics while watching the game, which benefited me a lot.

But these are not enough to help me fight back the doubts and dispel the clouds of the whole year.

I need more.

2/

Tonight, it's as if every ball is falling.

13 defensive rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds. 18 rebounds per game, a new high in my "NBA career."

Just 20 games in his career.

Even though there were only 20 games, every game, every minute on the court, I gave my best and did my best. I've been waiting too long, and my heart is burning with cold hands and feet during my time on the sidelines. Two double-doubles in a row, two triple-doubles, and there are already people who compare me to those great names, like LeBron James.

The little emperor once said to me, "You have a chance to become stronger than me." "I was 17 years old at the time, had just come to the U.S., attended his training camp, and no one knew who I was. He invited me to practice at half past six in the morning on the second day of the training camp, which was a bit like opening a small stove and a bit like the words and deeds of the seniors to the juniors." But you can't be lazy, you have to work hard. "After two hours of jumper practice, I kind of understand why he's been the number one in the league for so many years.

It's only a quarter of the way through the race, and someone is already putting the Rookie of the Year award on my head.

"The long-distance run hasn't started yet, and the suspense is over."

The same people who questioned me are now singing praises to me as if I were an angel who came out of nowhere overnight. But I don't see it that way, Jayson Tatum, Kuzma, Ball, even Dennis Smith of the Mavericks, they're all good. Last week's rookie list ESPN also commented on a Chinese, Yang of the Rockets. They took the nickname "Dr. J" from 76ers historic legend Julius Irving. Young was really good, and in the first round of the Wells Fargo Center, his three-pointer killed us.

"[Young's] scoring this week has the capital to compete with the undisputed king of rookies, Ben Simmons." Competition, that's what I like. And competition also makes me stronger!

Like these 18 rebounds. When I fought with my muscles, jumped up and fought for every ball and every opportunity, the basketball was like an obedient baby, sitting on a slide and rolling steadily into the palm of my hand.

It's its feedback to me, its love for me, its patience, its competitiveness.

3/

But tonight, not every ball is falling.

Free throws and three-pointers.

My arsenal is not comprehensive enough.

I still have weaknesses.

I'm well aware of that, and my opponents, know better than I do.

The Washington Wizards, who trailed by 19 points at the end of the third quarter, fouled me wildly in the fourth quarter, sending me to the free throw line 24 times, and I only made half of them.

There was another three-point attempt, my first of the season, and I didn't hit it either.

If I could have shot a fraction of those shots, we wouldn't have been dragged into the game's decisive moments with 48 points in the quarter, bordering on madness.

Maybe my career-high score can go up a little bit more than just 31 points. At the end of the game, reporters and fans were overwhelmingly praised and exclaimed on the Internet: "Ben Simmons has set a new career high and responded strongly to the challenge of the Chinese star."

That's my response exactly, but I guess they must have only looked at the stats and not the game. It wasn't my best response, even though I had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

None of these are noteworthy responses.

Two hours after the game, the stadium was full of people, and the lights were dimmed, only the center was still lit. I switched back to loose-fitting casual clothes and watched a human-driven waxing machine run silently at one end of the pitch and the other: "Please give me some more time." ”

"It doesn't matter, you can practice as long as you want." The black uncle who drove the waxing machine responded crisply.

In less than 8 hours, the team will go to Boston to challenge for the first place in the East. But before that, I had 300 free throws to make and hit 10 in a row at least once.

From the 272nd to the 285th free throw, I hit 14 in a row, and there were a couple of times before that with eight and nine in a row.

In the arena, only the sound of a basketball landing can be heard, but it seems to fill the entire empty space. But I know that except for the black uncle who is silently waiting, I am not alone under this dome.

Three championship flags, nine retired jerseys, hung high somewhere above my head.

One day there will be one flag that belongs to me hanging high, or even two...

I promised myself that that was the response I wanted.

"My name is Ben Simmons. You're all still talking about the process, but it's time for me to explode. ”