Ben Simmons will return to Philadelphia for the first time as an opponent on Thursday, as the Brooklyn Nets take on the Sixers.
The All-Star guard/forward is not expected to receive a warm welcome by Sixers fans at Wells Fargo Center.
Philadelphia crowd will most likely boo Ben Simmons for the entire game. However, the Nets are not concerned about how Simmons will handle the situation.
“It is what it is. He’s a big boy. He’ll be fine. He wants to be there on the bench with his teammates. I don’t think he’s naive [enough] to think he’s not going to get some boos. I hope he enjoys it. It’s a part of the game I miss.
He’s on our team, he needs to be with his teammates and get the whole Philly thing out of the way a little bit.
Maybe it never goes away, but the first time it’s always nice to kind of deal with it and move on,” Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash told reporters, via Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Ben Simmons will not play in the game, because of a back injury he is dealing with. Brooklyn medicall staff hasn’t cleared him for practice yet, therefore it is unknown when he will make his season debut. The former All-Star hasn’t played an NBA game in more than nine months.
“It’s probably not going to be pleasant. The same as in Toronto [for me], but it is what it is. We’re all professional athletes.
At the end of the day it’s only boos, so you just go out there and perform and try to do your best. But as long as it’s nothing serious, no throwing things and just be verbal, I don’t care,” Goran Dragic said about Ben Simmons’ return to Philadelphia.
Back on February 10, the Nets sent James Harden and Paul Millsap to the Sixers. In exchange, they received Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and future draft picks. Therefore, Curry and Drummond will also visit Philadephia for the first time as opponents.
“It will be a playoff-like atmosphere. I think just based off the trade and us playing them again and obviously with the Ben situation it’s just two teams that have a good chance of seeing each other in the Eastern Conference Finals. So it’s going to be a good game,” the big man noted.
Brooklyn has been struggling since late January and has won only three of its last 20 games. They currently are ninth in the East, at 32-33, and have lost four straight.
On the contrary, the Sixers have been unstoppable and have won eight of their last 10. They are second in the East (40-24) and undefeated with James Harden on the floor (5-0).
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