Ben Simmons is currently trying to redeem his reputation after a year of turmoil and playing no basketball during the 2021-22 season. Simmons infamously sat out after falling out with the Philadelphia 76ers, forcing them to trade him, although they did manage to get James Harden out of the equation. Regardless, he’s quite disliked in Philly, possibly more than any other famous person, even though he claims to have no problem with the city and its people.
The Sixers fans aren’t shy about making their feelings about Ben known though, most of them hate his guts. And while he may win back a lot of fans in the general NBA world, if he comes back and performs well, a sizeable portion of Philly fans will surely never like him. And when all of this is taken into consideration, it makes one of Simmons’ recent statements to the media sound a bit wild.
Ben Simmons Reveals He Is Open To Rejoining The Philadelphia 76ers In The Future
Simmons’ new teammates are focused on making him feel comfortable on the Nets, with Kyrie Irving calling it his responsibility to help Ben. And while Simmons has made all the right noises about being excited about the team and committed to it, he does seem to have an interesting take on a potential Philly return. When asked about it, his surprising but bold response was reported by ESPN.
“Who knows? I can’t predict the future. I would have never told myself this would have gone this way at the start of my career. Who knows if, in four or five years, I end up going back? I don’t know,” Simmons said of a potential Philadelphia return in an interview with ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
“It could be a whole different situation, but for now, I don’t want to make my mind up and say it’s not possible for anything to change.”
The idea of Ben Simmons in a Philly uniform once again is as intriguing as it is unthinkable, the former All-Star has burned a lot of bridges within the organization. Still, wilder things have happened in the NBA, nothing can ever be written out.
The fact that Simmons is open to a return to Philly shows that he may have matured a little bit from this whole experience. That’s what the optimists will say, at least. However, it may also be taken as further proof that he simply doesn’t care about these things as much as people want him to. One way or another, this possibility is far away and would be incredibly entertaining if it came to pass.
