Ben Simmons made his return to Philadelphia on Wednesday as the Brooklyn Nets fell to an undermanned 76ers 115-106 (all times AEDT).
It was an eventful return that had a bit of everything — and got people talking.
Simmons, as expected, was met with a hostile response from his old fan base, who booed the Aussie when he first touched the ball and every possession thereafter and brutally chanted ‘F*** Ben Simmons’ at times.
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The theatrics included Simmons retaliating to the crowd, doing a Michael Jordan style shrug of his shoulders when he made a pair of free throws and signalling for it to shush when he converted a put back shot.
He later missed a pair of free throws to give the Sixers fans at Wells Fargo Centre free Chick-fil-A, much to their delight.
Although the booing of the Aussie was vocal, Simmons noted post-match he “thought it was going to be louder.” Heck, the dynamics were quite the opposite to what was expected at stages, with Simmons even signing autographs and taking photos with fans pre-game.
Broadcaster Ernie Johnson also said on TNT he was “glad” the booing of Simmons when he was announced in the startling line-up was “as bad as it got.”
This notion that the Philadelphia crowd — renowned for being among the most passionate and rowdy in US sports — was more sober than expected was shared by others in the US media including NBA journalist Jackson Frank.
Frank believes the absence of injured superstar duo Joel Embiid and James Harden and the fact that it was technically Simmons’ second time back in Philadelphia — returning in March after being traded while injured — “quelled” the vibe at Wells Fargo Centre.
Philly Voice’s Kyle Neubeck also noted how the treatment of Simmons didn’t compare to when he first returned in March dressed in street clothes on the bench.
“A lot of people spent all of Wednesday and the days leading into the game talking about just how bad it was going to be for Ben Simmons in his return to Philadelphia,” Neubeck wrote on Phillyvoice.com.
“There was no way it was going to be worse than the first time he returned and simply didn‘t play, when the wound was still fresh and fans were ready to let him have it.”
Hoops Tonight host Jason Timpf offered other reasons why Simmons didn’t cop it as badly as anticipated.
“In general there was some negative energy directed towards him, but it wasn’t that bad,” he said.
“First of all, this isn’t LeBron (James) coming back to Cleveland as the best player in the world.
“Ben Simmons is a bad contract right now. He’s played a few good games in a row, but right now he’s not a super desirable basketball player, so it’s not like the Philly fans horribly miss him.
“Secondly, they got James Harden back in that deal. They couldn’t get James Harden if it wasn’t for the Ben Simmons trade.
“The whole Ben Simmons saga worked out pretty damn well for the Philadelphia 76ers.”
In terms of his actual play, Simmons was promoted back into the starting line-up alongside Nic Claxton and produced a strong performance — most notably in the first half.
He finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and three blocks while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-6 from the charity swipe to continue his recent resurgence.
But he also faded late, with he Aussie going scoreless in the fourth, nor did he attempt a single shot, when the Nets were trying to rally.
Frank ultimately described it as the “entire Ben Simmons experience”.
“He was really good in the first half, especially during Brooklyn’s hot start — pushing the ball and was good all around getting Brooklyn a lot of transition opportunities and he had a lot of good passes in half court,” he said on The 30 podcast.
“But the trail play at the five didn’t really work. They got killed inside on the glass because of him and Claxton.
“(Simmons played) Really good perimeter defence, not so much as a big man. Pretty good transition player and first half half court player. But in the second half when they needed him to be a little more of an offensive threat as a scorer, he wasn’t able to provide that.
“Not the efficiency you would look for from Ben. This is kind of who Ben is. He was better against the Grizzlies and Blazers and this is still a major step up from when he missed some time in injury.
“If you’re a Nets fan, I’m sure you’re discouraged with the team result. But I think you continuously see Ben progress back to who he’s been for most of his career — a top 50 player.
“Some of the reasons that led to his departure were evident too. We really got the full Ben Simmons experience in some ways in this game.”
Simmons jokes about return to Philly | 01:24
Meanwhile, four-time NBA champion Shaquille O‘Neal, who said he was “proud” of Simmons at halftime for “embracing the challenge” against his old team and stepping up, was less supportive at the end of the game.
“It was a lot of booing, but he played well in the first half, I gave him props. I realised he only hit two points (in the second half) and they lost the game,” he said on TNT.
Indeed, as much as Simmons’ return to Philadelphia was a big story, perhaps the bigger story to emerge was that a Sixers side without three starters in Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey, comfortably defeated a full strength Nets side.
“You talk about championship mentality. When you’re a championship team, you’ve got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat,” O’Neal added.
“They were definitely supposed to beat this team tonight and they didn’t … if Brooklyn keeps playing like this, they have no shot at winning (the championship).”
The Nets, who’ve been marred by drama this season, most notably surrounding Kyrie Irving, have turned around their campaign in recent times under new coach Jacque Vaughn.
Brooklyn went into the game with six wins from its last nine games to push back into the playoff conversation.
So to get blown out by a Philly team that had considerable less talent on the court was telling on where the Nets are at on the whole despite their recent upsurge.
The Sixers won the rebound battle 49-35 including offensive rebounds 20-4. These are effort stats, and it was clear which team brought it, as role players such as De’Anthony Melton, George Niang and Paul Reed shined.
“That team in Brooklyn, they’re soft. It was proven again,” NBA legend Charles Barkley said on TNT.
“This team just has talent, that’s it. It takes a lot more than talent to win.
“You saw all the flaws of the Brooklyn Nets — they’re an awful rebounding team … they have two great offensive players and you’ve got a guy who we don’t know what he’s going to bring in night in, night out and they don’t play defence.”