BATON ROUGE, La. — Ben Simmons has LeBron James' number in his favorites, regularly texting with the Cavaliers' star.
Simmons' game regularly draws comparisons to both James and Magic Johnson — lofty praise for a guy who has played only 20 college games and whose team is only six games above .500.
But Simmons, LSU's 6-foot-10 freshman point forward, is one of Oklahoma star Buddy Hield's biggest competitors for National Player of the Year honors. Hield and the Sooners hit the road and take a break from Big 12 play to face at LSU on Saturday (4 p.