Rooting for Ben Simmons
A key point is routinely overlooked when it comes to Simmons and what really went down with his former team
The unwritten rules of this profession dictate that we're not supposed to bring rooting interests onto press row or display them in any way once we sit down there.
Yet in the interest of full candor I can share that I was rooting from afar for Ben Simmons on Tuesday night.
I was rooting for Simmons to get through his first game as an active visiting team participant in the City of Brotherly Love in triumphant, redemptive fashion with that whole city waiting to unload on him — for one simple reason that I've mentioned before and will reiterate now.
To anyone who says that he rightfully had unbridled hostility coming his way for the manner in which he quit on the 76ers, do not forget: The Sixers quit on Benjamin David Simmons long before he ever purportedly quit on them.
Simmons played pretty damn well in his first live action at Wells Fargo Center in 520 days. He amassed 11 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks in 32 forceful minutes and had some moments that suggested he was quite comfortable in this hostile environment.
None of that could prevent an embarrassing 115-106 loss for the Nets, who failed to capitalize on Simmons’ fourth successive promising showing and (far more egregiously) the injury absences of Philadelphia’s top three players: Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. I nonetheless came away mystified, once again, by this idea that Simmons is the undisputed Public Enemy No. 10 in Philly because he failed the local basketball franchise so scandalously.
We repeat …