The city of Philadelphia may have to soften a little bit on one of their least favorite people.
In an appearance this week on “The Young Man and The Three” podcast, Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons reflected back on his time with the Philadelphia 76ers. During the episode, Simmons had some surprisingly complimentary comments about the notoriously tough Philly fanbase.
“The fans, for instance. I didn’t appreciate the fans enough,” said Simmons. The fans in Philadelphia are incredible. You always want to play for a team with a good fanbase. Whether they’re booing or cheering, you just want fans to care. You want the arena packed.”
That is a pretty classy take from Simmons given how poorly he was treated by 76ers fans during his time with the team (albeit for reasons of his own doing). Simmons was drafted by Philadelphia with the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 and later became a three-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA honoree with the 76ers. But after infamously passing up an open dunk during a loss in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Atlanta Hawks, Simmons quit on Philadelphia and refused to play for them again until he was finally traded to Brooklyn in 2022.
Reports at the time had suggested that 76ers fans were a big part of why Simmons wanted out, and as a result, those fans sent profane messages to Simmons every chance they could. Even as recently as last year, Simmons was still getting into public back-and-forths with the 76ers faithful. Maybe Simmons has finally decided to let bygones be bygones or maybe he is just trying to bank some good PR ahead of a foray into free agency this summer where he might not have very many suitors.
