Aussie NBA player Ben Simmons drops $10m off asking price for luxury LA mansion

Aussie NBA star Ben Simmons is on the hunt to find a buyer for his luxury home in Los Angeles.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn Nets player, who was born in Melbourne and raised in Newcastle, listed the modern farmhouse in the Hidden Hills for $US22.999 million ($35,258,846) in May 2022.

The sprawling home is yet to find a buyer, so the asking price has dropped to $US17.495 million ($26,820,884) ahead of its scheduled online auction starting on April 18.

Simmons paid $US17 million for the brand-new home in 2021 but chose to sell up after switching from playing for the Philadelphia 76ers to join the Brooklyn Nets.

“This is a beautiful home that I’ve enjoyed, but because I spend most of my time on the east coast, sadly, it often goes unused,” Simmons said in the statement on Concierge Auctions’ website.

“It’s time to move on.”

Built in 2021 from vertical recycled timber and charcoal bricks, the contemporary house comprises seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

One of the key features of the home is the open-plan living, kitchen and dining room with its grand double-height vaulted ceilings and exposed steel beams.

The formal dining room has a floating brass fireplace and two designer chandeliers that retail for upwards of US$150,000.

Elsewhere the house has a movie theatre, gym, a recording studio and two kitchens across 1115 square metres of floor space.

Set on 1.4 acres, the compound includes a cabana, fire pit and 20-metre swimming pool plus a self-contained guesthouse with a plunge pool of its own.

Bidding is expected to start between US$7 million and US$12 million.

It’s not the only high-end property transaction for Simmons in recent years.

In 2022, the former Newcastle Hunters’ under-12 representative sold his New Jersey home for US$4.55 million.

It’s small change for Simmons who signed to play for the Brooklyn Nets with salaries of US$37.9 million this season and US$40.3 million in 2025.

However, his basketball career has been plagued by injuries.

Earlier this month, the Brooklyn Nets announced Simmons wouldn’t play again this season due to surgery to address a back issue.

He recently underwent back surgery for the second time in three years and is expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp next season.

Simmons’ rise from Newy to the NBA

The youngest of six kids, 2.08-metre Simmons was born in Melbourne and moved to Newcastle with his family when he was 18 months old.

He learned to play basketball at Broadmeadow’s Newcastle Basketball Stadium and is the son of former Newcastle Falcons forward and Hunter Pirates coach Dave Simmons.

During their time in Newcastle, the Simmons family lived in Belmont and Lambton.

He spent a year at Louisiana State University before being drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016.

He won NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and was named an all-star three times before missing the entire 2021 and 2022 seasons due to mental health struggles and injuries.

In 2014, Simmons told The Newcastle Herald that he considered Newcastle one of his homes.

“I’ve got a lot of homes now. I kind of look at Australia as home, not just Melbourne, because I lived in Newcastle for a lot of my life,” Simmons said at the time.

“I still keep in contact with a few people I went to school with and played basketball with, so I’m still good friends with them.

“That’s my earliest memories of basketball, playing in the Newcastle Hunters gym. I’d definitely love to come back when I have time, for sure.”

This article was originally published on view.com.au.