‘Holy crap’: Ben Simmons smashed by NBA’s shortest man

Ben Simmons had the size advantage as things got feisty with pocket rocket Facundo Campazzo, but he was put on his backside.

Anyone who watched Argentina’s Facundo Campazzo compete at the 2019 FIBA World Cup or during his days with Real Madrid knew he had a mean streak.

Now Ben Simmons does too.

The Philadelphia All-Star and the NBA’s shortest man engaged in a bit of hard-nosed back-and-forth play as the Nuggets blew out the Sixers on Wednesday — and it didn’t end well for the Aussie.

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After Campazzo, who stands just 178cm tall, drew an offensive foul on Simmons with a clear flop in transition, the 211cm Sixers point guard attempted to square up by catching the Denver back-up with a screen in the back court.

But the wily 30-year-old, who won two EuroLeague championships with Real Madrid, saw it coming.

Campazzo dropped his shoulder hard into Simmons’ chest, who wasn’t expecting such velocity from such a small man and was put on his backside.

Holy crap, Campazzo just trucked Simmons on a screen.

— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) March 31, 2021

Former Houston Rockets guard Chris Clemons began the season as the NBA’s shortest player at 175cm but tore his Achilles in a pre-season game and was waived in January.

The shortest player in history remains Muggsy Bogues, who enjoyed a long career in the league despite standing just 160cm tall.

The game against Denver was the fifth in a six-game road trip for Philly which began promisingly with wins against the Knicks, Warriors and Lakers but is beginning to run out of steam as the impact of Joel Embiid’s absence with injury starts to take hold.

The 76ers ultimately lost to the Nuggets 104-95, their season record now standing at 32-15.