Claims Victorian Government threatened to pull funding if Ben Simmons didn’t play in 2019 game

It has been sensationally claimed the Victorian Government “strong armed” the national basketball team into letting NBA star Ben Simmons play in a game.

Victoria’s Government threatened to pull basketball funding if Ben Simmons didn’t play against the USA at a 2019 Marvel Stadium.

Victoria’s Government threatened to pull basketball funding if Ben Simmons didn’t play against the USA at a 2019 Marvel Stadium event according to ex-player Andrew Bogut.

The former NBA player made the claim while speaking on his Rogues Bogues podcast, alleging the government threatened to pull $148.5 million of funding for basketball if Simmons — the face of a Tourism Victoria campaign — didn’t play.

Bogut said it followed the Boomers’ decision to drop Simmons from the matches, as Simmons wouldn’t be playing for the Boomers in the World Championships.

“These are our games to prep for the World Cup,” Bogut said.

Bogut said he didn’t blame Simmons for the saga, but alleges what happened next “shows how dirty the business is”.

“The call was given to Basketball Australia that basically said … if you don’t let Ben Simmons play in these two games in Melbourne, that money is gone,” he said.

Andrew Bogut made the claims on his Rogues Bogues podcast.

“We are going to do our best to get that number done as close to zero as possible and you will never get another dime from the Victorian Government again.”

Bogut said the team and Coach Andrej Lemanis agreed to let Simmons play but he was “pissed”.

“For the Victorian Government to strong arm a national team . . who is trying to win a gold medal for their country … by playing someone they have a separate deal with, to me is just the epitome of just government …. it’s a form of a corruption to extent.”

Bogut said after one day of training with the Boomers, Simmons “just left” and didn’t play in the USA matches.

He implied Lemanis lost his coaching role over the ordeal.

A spokesperson said that while they “respect” Bogut’s recollections, “Basketball Australia has a very strong and longstanding relationship with the Victorian Government.”

“Bogut is entitled to have his (opinions),” they said.

The Victorian Government did not respond to questions.

Originally published as Claims Victorian Government threatened to pull funding if Ben Simmons didn’t play in 2019 game