Ben Simmons is back with the Philadelphia 76ers to start the season with Doc Rivers’ team. After a tumultuous end to the 2020/21 NBA season, the player and the team starred in back and forths that almost got the point guard traded.
Surprisingly, Ben returned to Philly this week and is ready to start the campaign with the Sixers. It’s not crazy to think things will be awkward between the player and his teammates, but the players aren’t overthinking about it.
Danny Green, for instance, explained that the past is the past and they are focused on winning. The 3x NBA champion hopes to see Simmons doing what he does best, helping the team reach their goals.
“It doesn’t matter to us at this point,” Green, via Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “We just want everybody to come here, show up, and do their jobs. I’m not asking him to do anything different than he normally does. Just show up to work and do what you normally do for us.”
“What he normally does, we’re very effective,” Green continued. “We’re very good at it. We’re the No. 1 team in the East. We’re not asking him to shoot jump shots. Just come in, be a pro, do your job, and that’s what we expect of him. If he apologizes, cool, but when you work with somebody every day, you don’t expect an apology from people not showing up whether it’s family issues or sickness or whatever it may be. They come in and do their job.”
Simmons helped this squad secure the No. 1 seed in the East last season. Even though he didn’t have the best performance in the playoff, the rest of the team hopes to run it back this year and see if they can get to the next level.
Although the Australian looks ready to leave the organization, it’s different for the Sixers. They still believe Simmons can be important for them and will try to convince him to stay for the rest of his contract.
Well, Green has high expectations for this team, too, but he knows that Simmons is essential for that.
