By now, Jonathon Simmons’ Cinderella path to the NBA has been well documented: beginning his basketball career in the wilderness of junior college ball, Simmons moved from Paris Junior College to Midland College, then finally transferring to the University of Houston. Going undrafted in 2012, Simmons hit the semi-pro leagues, starring for the Sugar Land Legends of the American Basketball League, before dropping $150 to try out for the NBA D-League. After two successful seasons in the D-League starring for the Austin Spurs, Simmons was called up by the big-league Spurs for the 2015-16 season. By the 2016-17 season, he was earning regular minutes off the bench for Gregg Popovich’s squad.

On the court, Simmons was one of the first in the league to regularly wear the Nike Kobe AD NXT shoes.