Orlando Magic Jonathon Simmons explains Hurricane Harvey escape
By Mark Gunnels
Hurricane Harvey has left tons of damage in the city of Houston. Shooting guard Jonathon Simmons experienced it firsthand.
Former San Antonio Spur and current Orlando Magic guard Jonathon Simmons took an unusual route to the NBA. The 27-year-old attended three different colleges and went undrafted back in 2012.
Now, Simmons finds himself in Orlando under a three-year deal worth $20 million. While Simmons has shown tons of resilience throughout his career, it doesn’t measure up to what he’s done in his hometown of Houston.
With training camp still weeks away, Simmons has been back home. Unfortunately, Simmons and thousands of others are experiencing a traumatizing experience (h/t NBA.com).
"It’s devastating, said Simmons. Luckily, none of my family was seriously affected, but I see a lot of my friends suffering and that’s difficult. But I’m also proud of how the city of Houston has come together to help one another. On the upside and the brighter side, there’s that seeing how people have been there to help one another."
Simmons went into more details:
"Saturday night it started raining about 8 o’clock, but we had gotten over there about 3 o’clock just to be safe, Simmons recalled on Wednesday morning. I had bought all of these air mattresses and covers and blankets and food and water for everybody. We were good for three days, but my other friend’s house had started getting flooded early, so he came there to the house, too. So that gave us another 11 extra people and most of them were kids. We had to let the kids eat first, so most of the last two days it was kind of rough (without food)."
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The 6-foot-7 swingman burst onto the scene during the playoffs this year. With the two-time all-star, Kawhi Leonard hobbled, an opportunity for Simmons came knocking and he didn’t waste it. In 15 postseason games, Simmons averaged 10.5 points in 20.4 minutes per game.