Philadelphia 76ers' coach Brett Brown has delivered a stern reminder to anyone who doesn't believe Ben Simmons should win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
"He is the stone cold Rookie of the Year," Brown told reporters after his Australian star led the 76ers to a 120-108 demolition of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
"He has triple doubles in historic proportions.
"He just passed Earvin "Magic" Johnson and is behind Oscar Robertson.
"He had another one tonight."
Simmons achieved his 10th triple-double of the season with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists against a Timberwolves squad sitting in the seventh playoff slot in the Western Conference.
Brown's lobbying effort comes as some US media members, who will decide Rookie of the Year, called for Utah Jazz rookie guard Donovan Mitchell to claim the accolade.
Mitchell is first among all rookie scorers averaging 20.3 points per game but his 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists lags behind Simmons.
Mitchell has been a driving force in resurrecting the Jazz into a playoff contender and has been breaking records of his own with seven 30-plus point games and two of 40 points or more.
Simmons has backed himself for the award.
"Honestly, yeah," Simmons, when asked after the Timberwolves win if he should be Rookie of the Year, told reporters.
"The play I have had over the season has been pretty consistent and I've done some things that haven't been done in a while."
The key to the Rookie of the Year race will likely be how the 76ers and Jazz end the regular season.
The 76ers have climbed into fourth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, a dramatic rise for a team that has been the league's worst the past five years.
The Jazz are hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
The Jazz were not considered a playoff team early in the season but launched several long winning streaks led by Mitchell and Aussie sharpshooter Joe Ingles that made them one of the hottest teams in the NBA.
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