One & Done/Ben Simmons provides a behind the scenes look at an elite basketball prospect from his senior year in high school to his mandatory year in college to the 2016 NBA Draft.  While Simmons is the best incoming basketball talent since LeBron James, he’s not exactly Mr. Personality.  I love the NBA.  It’s my favorite sports league and am fascinated by all things hoops, but the filmmakers could have picked a better player to focus on than Simmons (for instance Joel Embiid).

The most important aspect of a documentary is authenticity and the Simmons family just comes off a little fake throughout this film.   Like they were acting for the cameras or something.  I will give Ben props for the unabashed contempt that he displays toward the NCAA during his year at LSU.  He makes it very clear that he thinks it’s bullshit he can’t just go straight to the NBA from high school and treats classroom commitments like a complete joke.  I do see his point, however that’s more so on the NBA, which has every right to keep an age limit for the betterment of its product.  By far the best part of the film is when Rich Paul, Lebron’s agent, gets involved.  Now Paul is somebody I’d like to see a documentary on…. but he’s too smart for that.  Streaming on Showtime.  Grade: C