76ers' Brett Brown Praises Ben Simmons on his 24th Birthday

On Monday, Philadelphia 76ers superstar Ben Simmons celebrated his 24th birthday while in the NBA's bubble down in Orlando, Florida. Despite being 24 years young, Simmons is looking to wrap up his third season in the NBA already this fall as the 76ers are gearing up for another playoff run after clinching a spot in the tournament for the third-straight year.

Before the Sixers took the court for a Monday night practice to prepare the season's restart, 76ers head coach Brett Brown had nothing but good things to say about his All-Star player. As Brown knows Simmons has seen his fair share of criticism throughout his first couple of years in the league, Brown went into depth about everything Simmons has accomplished already at such a young age.

"Just think about that age," Brown stated before Monday's practice. "You start referencing all of the other great players in our league from a statistics or an acknowledgment perspective; if you start draping championships at what age did these other great players experience championship success, you're going to find there's a commonality of about 28-years-old. That seems to be the honey spot."

"[Ben Simmons] has just turned 24," the Sixers' head coach explained. "To be a two-time NBA All-Star, to be discussed in a very serious way as a defensive player of the year, to certainly be discussed on an All-League defensive team, to be rewarded with a max contract, to come in and play a point guard and primary ball-handler position all along that path achieving some those things I just said, to be able to pivot out. . . The versatility, the age that versatility has shown so much promise and been rewarded is off the charts unique."

While Brown's mentioning of Simmons' career accomplishments throughout his first three seasons in the NBA is quite significant, the Sixers head coach believes the former first-overall pick hasn't even come close to his peak just yet. "His better days are well and truly ahead of him," Brown claimed. "The foundation he has already established at such an incredibly young age, I don't think it gets the full praise that it should. I think the Philadelphia 76ers are very fortunate to have him in their uniform for I'm sure, for a very long time."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_