Ben Simmons went from being the hope of the Philadelphia 76ers to public enemy number one in the city. Sixers fans are ruthless and the way he dealt with his trade situation was far from ideal.
For months, people around the city took big shots at Simmons. From people on local media to fans on Twitter, there wasn't a day that went by without multiple people mocking and insulting the former first-overall pick.
That's why one can only imagine how the fans will welcome him at Wells Fargo Center once he visits with the Brooklyn Nets. Per Joel Embiid, it's going to be pretty insane and will definitely carry some extra weight.
Joel Embiid Knows The Fans Are Ready For Ben Simmons
"It's not just about that whole thing it's also about the history with Brooklyn," Embiid said. "Obviously, us getting James and you know Philadelphia fans. They are gonna be incredible. Whether it's the boos or the cheers, it's gonna be insane. And obviously, you know what we gotta do. It's a regular-season game but there's gonna be something extra to it. I'm definitely gonna be ready, I'm sure my teammates are. It's gonna be fun, I'm excited."
Simmons Claims It Wasn't About The Fans
Even so, Simmons claims he never had anything against the fans or even against the organization as a whole. Per him, it was all about finding himself and doing what was best for his mental health:
“It was more so, it was just piling up, a bunch of things that have gone on over the years to where I just knew I wasn’t myself and I needed to get back to that place of being myself and being happy as a person and taking care of my well-being,” Simmons said “That was the major thing for me. It wasn’t about basketball. It wasn’t about the money [or] anything like that."
“I wanted to be who I am, get back to playing basketball at that level, and being myself. So that’s something I’ve been dealing with, and it wasn’t about the fans, coaches, or comments made by anybody," Simmons added. "It was just a personal thing for me that was earlier than that [Eastern Conference semifinals] series that I was dealing with. That organization knew that. So, it was something I continued to deal with, and I’m getting there, and getting to the right place to get back on the floor.”
Not many people buy the whole mental health struggle narrative, and specially not the fans in Philly. As a matter of fact, we all kind of hope he's lying about that and just wanted to force a trade; as dealing with mental health issues is no joke at all.
