Why We Should Dare to Look Dumb

EPISODE 66: Lessons from Jason Belmonte, the greatest bowler in the world.

The Brooklyn Nets fired their head coach, Jacque Vaughn, yesterday. The team had been underperforming, at 21-33. But what got the Internet laughing at Vaughn was this particular detail about his basketball strategy, as reported by Shams Charania:

When they went into training camp, a lot of their offense was built around Ben Simmons, and him playing at the 1, and him playing at a high level for them.

I can relate to Jacque Vaughn. On TV and various podcasts, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to build around Ben Simmons. During Ben’s darkest moments with the Philadelphia 76ers, I declared the Australian former No. 1 overall pick “a flying car without a stereo”: a futuristic point center who has everything you’d want — and more! — except for one admittedly basic feature.

Shooting.

Of any kind, really.

And so three weeks ago, when Simmons came back from injury to play in an NBA game for the first time this season, the No. 1 thing I wanted to see was whether he’d somehow addressed this haunting liability. I wanted to see if, six seasons into his pro career, he’d finally try any kind of new technique in order to improve his shot — even if it risked a new form of humiliation, in the process.

Nope. So far, in fact, Simmons seems more averse to shooting free throws and jumpers than ever. He looks ever more afraid of looking stupid.

A fear that all of us, on some level, can relate to.

And so for today’s episode, I wanted to do something a little different, myself. I wanted to spend time out of my own comfort zone, with a different professional athlete from Australia: a revolutionary named Jason Belmonte. Whose story is one that all of us — and Ben Simmons, especially — should want to hear.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:

Impossibly,

Pablo