Shane Heal has questioned whether Ben Simmons really loves basketball over what the former Boomers star says is an unwillingness to play for Australia.

Simmons is one of the country’s best basketballers, a former No.1 NBA draft pick currently playing for the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA.

However, he has not worn a Boomers jersey in more than a decade. Simmons has repeatedly said he would play for Australia but has frequently withdrawn himself from selection.

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Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian said earlier this year that Simmons had an eye on competing at Paris 2024 before a back injury sidelined him for the season.

Nevertheless, Heal isn’t so sure there’s any desire from Simmons to ever play for Australia.

“It’s not disappointing for me because I never expected him to do it. I don’t think Ben Simmons has ever shown a desire to play for Australia,” Heal told Wide World of Sports.

“The NBA guys sacrifice, everyone sacrifices to go to the Olympic Games and Ben Simmons hasn’t shown that he has the passion or the desire to sacrifice to play for his country. So I didn’t ever think that he would, to be honest.”

Heal said he doesn’t believe Simmons has a “true passion” for the sport and suggested he had regressed year-on-year.

“I’m not sure that he loves the game,” said Heal.

“He hasn’t shown that he loves playing, hasn’t shown that he loves training, hasn’t shown that he likes being in the gym in the off-season to make his game better and work on these things that every pro needs to do to make sure your game is going and you’re getting better year after year. 

“Ben’s career, each year, he’s gone a little bit backwards and it’s for those reasons, I think. I’m not sure whether that changes at any time in the future and he finds a love for the game and wants to do these things and wants to play all year round but at the moment we haven’t seen that.”

This year’s Olympics will be flush with some of the biggest names in basketball.

The USA is set to field a 12-man team littered with top-flight NBA talent including LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant.

Heal said players have to sacrifice to compete for an Olympic medal.

“It’s completely different because the NBA regular season, you’re playing 82 games plus playoffs,” said Heal.

“It’s hard. It’s hard mentally, it’s hard physically. You grind all the way through. So when you get to the end of the season, mentally and physically you do need some sort of break.

“But when you’re playing for your country as well, then you don’t get that break and you sacrifice being around family and friends and doing other things that are more social to be away with a team and go into another high, intense sort of campaign.

“It’s not for everybody because it’s hard. But for the people who love it, there’s no greater feeling than playing for Australia. It’s different. You’re doing it for free, you’re doing it because you love it. You’re not doing it as a job. You sacrifice to do it. 

“Those guys that won the first-ever medal (for Australia) at the last Olympics did something that so many of the players, including myself beforehand (never did). I had finished as high as top fours but couldn’t get that medal.

“That’s why I have the admiration of you know, Joe (Ingles) and Paddy (Mills) and these guys that year after year, they just don’t take campaigns off, they do it and then they commit and they’re fully all in to be able to help with the culture of the Boomers.”

The Boomers begin their Olympic campaign against Greece on July 27.