Ben Simmons will make his long-awaited return to the court this fall with his new team, the Brooklyn Nets, after missing the previous campaign due to injury.
Simmons had a rough period with his previous team, the Philadelphia 76ers. He was specifically accused by his former Sixers teammate Joel Embiid when they lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 playoffs before suffering an injury that sidelined him for a year.
“I don’t know how to say it,” Embiid said after that game, “but I thought the turning point was we had an open shot, we missed and we made one free throw.”
Simmons, since then, was heavily criticized by the Sixers’ fans and never really felt welcomed there ever again. His misery with the 76ers finally ended when he was traded in February for James Harden.
However, the hate didn’t stop. Simmons was booed by the Sixers fans when he travelled with the Nets to the Sixers’ home last season. His former teammate Joel Embiid’s throwing him under the bus began all the drama, and Simmons did not forget that.
How is Ben Simmons and The Sixers’ Relationship Now?
Recently, Simmons revealed that, he and his former Sixers teammate Joel was never really friends and he doesn’t even talk to him anymore. “I don’t talk to Jo, we never really spoke.” He told ESPN.
“I don’t think there was really a relationship there,” Simmons said. “Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it’s never personal. I don’t have any anger or hate towards him. He is who he is and I am who I am.”
Simmons really didn’t share special bonds with Joel for sure, however, their time together at 76ers wasn’t that bad. Anyways, Simmons is looking forward to make his first official appearance with the Nets against the New Orleans.
Interestingly, his return to the Sixers’ court is only a month away. In November 22, the Nets will be facing the Sixers in Philadelphia, and Ben simply can’t wait for that game.
“I can’t wait to go there, yeah,” he said, via ESPN. “But for me, everything’s an experience and a learning situation. So for me I’m able to learn something that I’ve never been through before. I’ve never been traded and played against a team that I got traded from. … We’re people, too. We want to go out there and prove everyone wrong.”
It will certainly be interesting to see how Simmons fares with the Nets this season. He’s definitely going to be an important aspect of the Nets’ mission this season. After being away for more than a year due to injury, it will be a challenging task for Simmons to hit the court running.
