The Brooklyn Nets look to face the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday evening, and ex-Sixer Ben Simmons discusses going to play his old team.
The matchup will be a bit anticlimactic, considering Sixers stars Joel Embiid, James Harden, and young guard Tyrese Maxey are out with injuries. However, the atmosphere at the Wells Fargo Center should be electric considering the way things ended between Simmons and Embiid.
Simmons spoke on his relationship with Embiid per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire:
“You’re not cool with everybody,” Simmons explained. “You’re not texting everybody. I think there’s certain people that you just don’t talk to all the time. I got friends that I don’t talk to all the time, but we’re still–we’re cool. That’s just how life went.”
Roleplaying veteran Patty Mills reflected on playing the team on March 10 of the 2021-22 season when Simmons was out with an injury. Basketball insider Ramona Shelburne of ESPN spoke with Mills about it.
“It was a bum rush from the time we left the hotel. We had to go another out of the hotel, then people were following our bus.”
Ramona also talked with Simmons about his growing confidence ahead of the matchup:
“My mind is telling me, ‘Go be you, but then my body’s trying to catch up. So it feels like I’m just progressing each day, each game. Just building up,” Simmons told ESPN. “I’m still trying to get a rhythm, find my pace. It’s easy to be like … before the injury, [I] was one of the best defenders [in the league], and now, I’ve got to relearn a lot of things, rebuild. It takes time, but you move through it.”
Simmons did credit the Sixers fanbase for “making him a man”.
Ben Simmons reflecting on his time with the #Sixers this morning in South Philly:
“I had a lot of great moments. We shared a lot of moments here. A lot of ups and downs. This is where I became a man … The fan base, it’s a special fanbase. I got a lot of love for Philly.”
— Justin Grasso (@JGrasso_) November 22, 2022
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