Simmons decided to stay in Austin for another year, because he didn’t want to be an ocean away from his family, which now included four daughters. She said strangers come up to her every day talking about her son. When Jonathon Simmons walked into an Austin gym three years ago, he was one of 60 guys refusing to give up on a dream. “Walking in with all those guys, trying to figure out a way to stand out.”Three years later, Simmons is a 26-year-old NBA rookie for the Spurs.
Genealogy profile for Jonathan Simmons Jonathan Simmons (1843 - 1886) - Genealogy Genealogy for Jonathan Simmons (1843 - 1886) family tree on Geni, with … Now, Simmons has an NBA contract and the NBA per diem alone –money players receive for meals on the road – is more than he made playing basketball before this season. Simmons was a relative unknown, with a resume that contained one season of Division I basketball and a few semi-pro games.The open tryout is a place where everybody has been told no before. He’d score 30 or 40 points a game, but in front of sparse crowds for little or no pay. Forward Eric Dawson, who grew up a couple of miles away from the AT&T Center, spent parts of four seasons in Austin and earned a 10-day contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2012. All rights reserved. “I was seeing guys that I played against in college get drafted and go to Summer League, and I had nothing. With nobody watching, calls weren’t coming in for Simmons to further his career.LaTonya had a fallback career in mind for him. He said he didn’t know about his D-League or overseas basketball options at the time.“That was maybe the time that I really doubted myself the most,” he said. Jonathon Calvin Simmons was born on September 14, 1989, in Houston, Texas to parents Michael Sean and LaTonya Simmons. Jonathon had obstacles and setbacks, but he stayed focused.” Executrix: Elisabeth Simmons (widow, relict). So he’s got a chance to be a long-time player in the league if he pays attention and sticks to it.”Going from an open tryout to the NBA, there’s one part of his new life Simmons is still trying to grasp.
“I try to focus on moving forward, but I still think back to that tryout all the time,” Simmons said. He grew up in Houston’s northeast side, attending what was then called M.B. “People say it’s inspiring, but I still don’t see it,” he said. He won’t have to worry about scrounging money for diapers.“It’s surreal and also humbling at the same time,” Simmons said. Simmons said he was proud of his teammates at the time, but the situation was even difficult for McDonald to handle.“All these guys around him are leaving the nest, and we don’t understand why he isn’t getting called up either,” McDonald said. Working shifts that bled into dinnertime, LaTonya would take the four kids to McDonald’s, where they had their choice of $3 worth of items off the Dollar Menu.“I still like the Dollar Menu though, no matter how much I’m making,” Jonathon said.LaTonya is still working at the airport, where she’s added a mini-Spurs ball to the antennae of her walkie-talkie. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Legatees: Mary Simmons (daughter) wife of Thomas Mills. There happened to be a team in Austin taking a look at all comers.The Austin Spurs have signed players out of open tryouts before. “We all loved coaching him. Know about Edward Lodewijk Van Halen and his wife Janie Liszewski. Jonathon Simmons Early Life. I felt like I could have played at that level back then, but I had no options.”Simmons took the first paying gig he could find playing basketball, and it was with the semi-pro Sugar Land Legends. Executrix: Elisabeth Simmons (widow, relict).
“When he learned to see the floor in our system, from there he took off.”Austin Spurs coaches sit down with players at the beginning of each season, and map out a list of goals, working on strengths and weaknesses. Jonathon Simmons gave himself one last shot at an NBA career -- a D-League tryout with a $150 registration fee. In … “You have to try to stay positive and go from there.