Brooklyn Nets point guard Ben Simmons was once thought to be on track to play for the Australian men’s national basketball team, commonly called the Boomers, as they gear up for the FIBA World Cup later this month. Simmons hasn’t played for the Boomers since the 2013, when he came off the bench in two FIBA Oceania Championship games against New Zealand.

Just 17-years-old at the time, Simmons not only played behind starting guards Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova; he played the fewest minutes on the team in both games (14 minutes total). To be frank, Simmons didn’t do enough to earn more playing time, following up a FIBA Senior Team debut that saw him tally two steals in five minutes with a five-turnover performance in his second game.

As a result, he wasn’t selected to represent Australia in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, where the Boomers would place 12th.

Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian feels this led to resentment from Simmons toward the national team, per ESPN insider Olgon Uluc.

In light of Simmons’ decision not to play for the Boomers this summer and various reports about how he’s reacted to criticism up to this point of his career, Goorjian may very well have a point. However, if that’s the perspective that he has on the heavily criticized NBA star, it may be even more interesting that he still views Simmons as a major addition to their squad.

Especially in light of how his last two-plus seasons have turned out.

“It’s like, you’re fantastic, and you’re a great player and the country loves you, and the country wants you in green and gold, and our team does,” Goorjian says.

“…If you’re Ben Simmons, and if you play like Ben Simmons on this team, with that culture, you’re gonna take us to somewhere the team’s never been. That’s my goal…”

“But, in turn, this is really good for you,” he continues, expressing his beliefs that playing for the Boomers will benefit Simmons as both a person and a player. “Because you get to walk through these doors and drop everything behind and be you, and play with your mates in a great culture… this is gonna be a really good opportunity for him, and that I and the guys on the team, we care about him. We want him to have a great career.”

Nonetheless, while Goorjian cautions against thinking the Boomers will crawl to Simmons on their hands and knees.

“This is very important,” he says.

“In my dealings with Ben, it’s always been: I’m not recruiting you. It’s important for the country [to know], we’re not going, ‘please, Ben, please, we don’t have anything if you don’t play’. We’re not like that at all.”