Trophies have been thin on the ground in Ben Simmons' basketball career, so the NBA guard found one somewhere unexpected — bluewater off the Bahamas. South Florida Sails, the sportfishing outfit Simmons owns and competes with, swept to victory at the SFC Blue Marlin Open at Walker's Cay, with the tournament concluding on Sunday 18 May 2026.
The winning margin was emphatic. The team racked up 2,925 points to leave the second-placed New Jersey Sea Birds (1,450) about 1,500 points adrift. With each released blue marlin worth 450 points, anglers including Alex Stanley and Lee Albarty did the damage by raising, hooking and releasing marlin over the course of the event.
The victory feeds a wider ambition. Simmons has thrown his weight behind the idea of offshore fishing as a serious, professional, team-based sport, and the SFC circuit is built around exactly that pitch.
"I have always believed that investing in what you love means you have a responsibility to help move it forward," Simmons said. "Sportfishing has given me incredible experiences, and SFC is creating a platform that treats offshore fishing like the elite sport it is."
There are few tougher targets in the sea than a blue marlin. The species can weigh several hundred kilograms and is famous for scorching runs and spectacular leaps that punish any weak link in the crew or the gear. Release-format events like this one score teams for fighting and freeing their fish rather than killing them, which keeps the competition fierce while letting the marlin swim away.
For a player who has heard plenty of criticism on the court, it is a real win in an arena that demands patience, teamwork and nerve in equal measure — and proof that his investment in the sport is more than a hobby. The SFC still has to prove offshore fishing can become a mainstream team spectacle, but its marquee owner has just delivered a result to build on.