From Paid Tryout to Rotation Spark, Jonathon Simmons Has Earned His Spurs Spot

SAN ANTONIO — The list of astonishments that played out in Tuesday's San Antonio Spurs-Golden State Warriors game before a sold-out Oracle Arena crowd and a TNT TV audience began with the outcome: a San Antonio win.

Also included? The extent of the Spurs' 129-100 domination of the Western Conference's supposed superteam.

But if you're looking for absolute shock and awe, there was this: Jonathan Simmons' posterization of JaVale McGee that beat the final buzzer and put an exclamation point on his career performance.

"Are you kidding me?" TNT analyst Reggie Miller said as the 6'6" Simmons threw down a monster jam in the face of the 7'0" McGee, whose only real skill through eight uneven seasons has been an ability to protect the rim. "Give that young man the game ball right now."

Miller is given to hyperbole, but suggesting that Simmons was the hero of the Spurs' stunning upset was within the realm of possibility—even though Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 35 points and got five steals.

The Spurs needed something special to upset the Warriors on the court where they won their first 36 games last season.

When head coach Gregg Popovich learned that guard Danny Green would miss the opener with a strained left quadriceps, he had to choose between Simmons and third-year swingman Kyle Anderson to take Green’s starting spot, which included defensive duty against Klay Thompson.

Anderson, the Spurs' first-round pick in 2014, got the nod because he had appeared in 78 games last season, 11 times as a starter. Furthermore, he had spent some time defending Kevin Durant, the Warriors' prized free-agent acquisition, during San Antonio's Western Conference Semifinals series against Oklahoma City without embarrassing himself.

Simmons had played in only 55 games as a rookie and logged just 26 minutes in the Spurs' 10-game playoff run. He never got off the bench in the Thunder series. Plus, he had missed the last preseason game with a mystery injury Popovich described as "something that's sore."

Anderson played the first seven minutes and 40 seconds of the first quarter. When Simmons finally replaced him, the starter had not dented the box score in any category, and the Spurs trailed 16-12.

It took Simmons just 32 seconds to make his first entry in the official ledger—a six-foot floating jumper. By quarter's end, he had scored a team-high seven points and sparked a 19-4 run that completely changed the tone of the game.

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By game's end, he had played 28 minutes and produced 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and a case to become a key contributor for what has been one of the NBA's best bench units during the past three seasons.

If any of that seems crazy, consider some facts from his rookie season (research by B/R Insights):

• Simmons had the highest shooting percentage among all Spurs guards (50.4 percent).
• His 0.78 points per drive were second on the Spurs, behind only Leonard (0.88).
• He hit a higher percentage on uncontested three-point shots (38.5) than Green (33.6).
• Simmons also had a higher per-36-minute scoring average (14.7) than Green (10.0).

But he averaged only 14.8 minutes per game during his 55 appearances as a rookie and sometimes played tentatively. Popovich has urged him to worry less about making mistakes but also wants to see a more consistent level of play.

The impactful performance at Oracle clearly has earned more time—especially if he continues to excel at both ends of the floor, as he did Tuesday.

"He played big," Leonard said. "Came in on that second unit and made shots. But I was impressed at how he was locked in on the defensive end, telling me to get back on defense, telling the starters."

Wait. What? Jon Simmons told the two-time Defensive Player of the Year to get back on defense?

Leonard smiled at this seeming impertinence from a player whose path to the NBA included having to plunk down $150 to become one of 60 participants for a 2013 D-League tryout in Austin, Texas.

"You've seen him play in the summer league these last two years, and just having confidence out there, just going at it really," Leonard said. "If you work at it at practice, it's gradually going to get into the game if you want it to."

Simmons has worked at it for years because he desperately wanted to get into the game. Any game. His first pro team was the Sugar Land Legends of the semi-pro American Basketball League, a team conveniently located in the suburbs of Houston, where Simmons grew up and, eventually, played one season at the University of Houston before declaring himself eligible for the 2012 NBA draft.

He went undrafted.

The NBA always remained the goal, which explains his scraping together the $150 required to participate in the D-League tryout.

How much money was in his bank account when he paid to keep his hoop dreams alive?

"I don't know," he said in the aftermath of his 20-point game against the Warriors. "I don't think I even had a bank account then."

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The Spurs saw enough in the tryout to invite him for a longer look with their D-League team, the Austin Toros. He made the roster and spent two seasons in the D-League, honing his offensive skills and making the D-League's All-Defensive third team. Two years of play with the Spurs at Las Vegas Summer League produced a two-year, NBA minimum contract worth $1.4 million.

"It's been a time, but I love the game, so it's been fun and I'm here," Simmons said after Tuesday's eye-opener. "It took me a while to get here, so I don't complain about things I have to do even though I'm new to it and sometimes question, like, 'OK, why?' But I love the game and I love every part of it, so just being positive and going about it that way."

His approach to coming off the bench behind Anderson against the Warriors?

"Just focus and doing whatever my team needed me to do," he said. "That's basically it. Just being prepared to play. I'm just doing whatever my team and Pop ask me to do. I'm just staying ready for my opportunity and taking advantage."

Next time there is an opportunity to posterize a 7-footer, expect Simmons to take that advantage too.

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.