Kendall Jenner, 23, and Ben Simmons, 22, have been dating on and off since last year, and even though they’ve recently seemed closer than they’ve ever been, it turns out Ben has decided to make the current NBA season a priority. He’s been hard at work on the basketball court with his team, the Philadelphia 76ers, in the NBA playoffs and that’s mostly where his brain is at.
“Ben is devoted to the NBA playoffs right now and going out on dates with Kendall would be a bad look for a team that is looking to win the NBA Championship,” a source close to Kendall and Ben EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife. “It’s all business and it’s all basketball for Ben. They are still dating each other but it’s not super duper serious and she is still invited to any of his games that she’d like to attend, but she is busy herself and doesn’t always have the time. They are giving each other some time to themselves so he can focus all of his attention to the team and the games that are upcoming. He doesn’t want to be in the news for being out late or on dates when the team is counting on him and trying to win games. He doesn’t want his teammates to think he isn’t all in.”
In addition to struggling to maintain a relationship and a sports career at the prime of his game, Ben understands that many people think he’s up against the “Kardashian curse”, a conspiracy theory by the public that claims any athlete who dates a KarJenner, has bad luck in their sport. Although some people believe it’s all nonsense, there are still a few players on Ben’s team that worry about the theory. “The coaches and ownership pay no attention to it but the players in the locker room all believe that the Kardashian curse is still a thing and would love for Kendall not to be at any future playoff games. Just to be sure, ” the source admitted. “The team is very superstitious and they want to win or lose on their own play and don’t want to add anything to sway the mojo.”
Despite the issues that are seemingly up against Kendall and Ben’s relationship, the determined sportsman is confident he will still see Kendall when the big games are over and he has more time. “He will have plenty of time to hang out with Kendall this summer,” the source explained. “He has a job to do right now that pays his bills. So he is making sure that is priority number one.”
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently in the second round of the NBA playoffs. If they make it all the way to the NBA Finals, they could be playing until June 16.