MILWAUKEE — Ben Simmons and D'Angelo Russell didn't share the court in the Nets' win Thursday night in Milwaukee, but they'll both be at the point at some point.
The Nets hope it's more complementary than competitive.
After all, these two playmakers have already shown that they can not only coexist, but thrive.
They played together for two years at Montverde Academy, compiling a 45-2 record with several national championships.
In fact, there are four Montverde products on Brooklyn's list.
And Kevin Boyle, who coached the entire quartet, spoke to the Post in Orlando about a Nets team that includes Russell and Simmons and is looking for what it once was.
“Man, it's amazing how it turned out like that, with so many players from our school on the same team,” Boyle told the Post. “So, hopefully, we'll see. It's obviously very difficult to achieve that goal, to get to the NBA, but to have four players (is great) Obviously, some of them have had their ups and downs. At one time, Ben was an All-Star. At one time, D'Angelo was an All-Star.”
Boyle coached Kyrie Irving at St. Patrick's in Elizabeth (N.J.), won eight of the last 11 high school national championships and was one of the last 10 Naismith National Players of the Year. served as a coach.
He could select four former players, led by Cooper Flagg, in the first round of June's NBA Draft.
And while the Nets would like to acquire the latter, they also have Montverde products Dayron Sharpe and Darik Whitehead.
But now it's Russell who's getting a chance to start in Brooklyn after being relegated to primarily a reserve role for the first time in his Lakers career.
And Boyle told the Post that it wasn't his form that dipped, it was just his chances.
“D'Angelo was always very talented offensively, from a scoring standpoint, from a distributing standpoint, from an unselfish standpoint,” Boyle told the Post. “Up until this year, his numbers had been incredibly stable. Whatever percentage he was scoring or shooting, it was like being in a pyramid scheme. 13% every year. His numbers were always the same. That's how effective he was.
“Obviously his playing time has decreased this year, his role has decreased, and his stats have decreased as well. But his numbers have almost always been similar based on when he's gotten similar playing time. Years You'll be surprised… beyond a reasonable sample size, everything looks like who he is.”
That was proven correct when Jordi Fernandez put the ball in Russell's hands with 22 points and eight assists in his (second) Nets debut in Toronto on Wednesday.
Russell and Simmons even got a plus-7 in their seven minutes together.
The latter did not play in Thursday's game in Milwaukee and was not cleared for back-to-back appearances.
Boyle wondered if he would ever see the old Simmons again, and if not, why not?
“We all know his story, but it baffles a lot of people,” Boyle said. “You're talking about a guy who was one of the best 15, 20, 25 players in the league going in the direction of, 'Hey, we're going to have a top 15 player for 10 years.' And why? Whatever it is, whether it's injuries or chemistry, (he's) trying to figure it out. You're now going 17-8-8 on a regular basis and defending like you did in Philadelphia. Can you become the person you were very good at?
“So, I don't know. I haven't watched enough games to know if I can get it back in shape. Is it completely healthy? Is it a mental thing to deal with whatever it is?” Is it a combination of health and psychology? But when D'Angelo was at his peak and Ben was at his peak, the problem was that they were both at it again. It’s about whether you can reach that level and maintain it.”
