Ben Simmons Comments on NCAA in New Documentary

Ben Simmons put the NBA's one-year college rule on notice in October when he stated on Twitter (h/t Andrew Joseph of For The Win) he didn't attend class last year at LSU. But now, the Philadelphia 76ers rookie is calling out the NCAA. 

In a new Showtime documentary titled One & Done, which airs Friday, Simmons talked about his life in Australia followed by a lone season in college and preparations for the NBA draft, as well as his feelings regarding the NCAA.

"The NCAA is really f--ked up," Simmons said in the film, per ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf. "Everybody's making money except the players. We're the ones waking up early as hell to be the best teams and do everything they want us to do and then the players get nothing. They say education, but if I'm there for a year, I can't get much education."

It's not a secret that Simmons didn't get a lot out of his college experience, at least as it pertains to being a student. He was deemed ineligible for the Wooden Award because he didn't meet the academic criteria when his GPA fell below 2.0, per Glenn Guilbeau of USA Today.

"You don't go to some classes. You miss some classes, and you're going to get punished," Simmons told Guilbeau. "That's how they handle it. I learned from it. I go to class now."

As part of the film, Simmons acknowledged he didn't want to go to class after getting his grades up to a point where he would be allowed to play for the Tigers. 

"I got B's and C's; I'm not going to class next semester because I don't need to," Simmons said, per Medcalf. "... I'm here to play; I'm not here to go to school."

On Wednesday, while speaking at LSU's inaugural Sports Communication Summit at the Manship School of Mass Communication, NCAA President and former LSU chancellor Mark Emmert responded to Simmons' comments, per Scott Rabalais of the Advocate.

"

I was reading today where someone who played basketball at LSU was very unhappy with the one-and-done rule. That's not our rule. That's the NBA's rule. But (he says) it's another stupid NCAA rule.

The one-and-done rule is something I've made no secret about how much I dislike it. It makes a farce of going to school. But if you just want to play in the NBA, you can do that. You can go to Europe or play at a prep school until you're 19.

I'd love nothing more than for the NBA to get rid of that rule. We've made it really clear to the (NBA) players union and the leadership of the NBA that we very much would like it changed.

"

Simmons also stated he viewed his collegiate experience as a waste of time because he wasn't there to get an education:

"

I don't have a voice. ... I don't get paid to do it. Don't say I'm an amateur and make me take pictures and sign stuff and go make hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars off one person. ... I'm going off on the NCAA. Just wait, just wait. I can be a voice for everybody in college. I'm here because I have to be here [at LSU]. ... I can't get a degree in two semesters, so it's kind of pointless. I feel like I'm wasting time.

"

While Simmons did not want anything to do with college classes, he did note in the documentary he was offered "a Wraith Rolls-Royce, watches, jewelry, a house...anything. It literally is anything. People coming at you, offering you things."

Emily Bush, Simmons' sister, said in the documentary she has receipts for all of the items her brother purchased during his time at LSU. 

The NCAA's business and academic practices have been under fire for years. Wisconsin basketball star Nigel Hayes recently used Big Ten revenues to make a point:

There will never be a consensus regarding whether to pay student-athletes. But Simmons exploited flaws in the system to keep playing basketball while awaiting his big payday in the NBA.