It was the kind of night that only the NBA can deliver with all its soap opera, meme-friendly, hyper-petty brilliance. Ben Simmons’ first appearance in Philadelphia since demanding a trade from the 76ers in the summer was always going to be extra in all the dirtiest ways, but Thursday night’s incredibly interesting homecoming somehow managed to top the previous weeks of growing hype.
And not because the game itself was somewhat competitive, because it certainly wasn’t. A crowd of 21,408 rowdy fans who showed up to unleash more than nine months of pent-up frustration booed their own team in the fourth quarter as the visiting Brooklyn Nets scored 32 on a live 129-100 hometown beatdown of the Sixers.
The predominant tenor of Philadelphia’s most anticipated regular season game in two decades was more WWE than NBA. Three weeks after landing with Brooklyn in a trade he lobbied for months, branded as the main culprit behind a disastrous playoff exit at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, Simmons is back in South Philadelphia with a big heel: the devil wears Louis Vuitton. That he didn’t even get dressed for Thursday’s game as he continues to recover from a back injury and return to fitness after 54 games was almost irrelevant.
Philadelphia is a city where people care too much about sports, and the mania surrounding the nationally televised game Thursday night did little to dispel that reputation. While Simmons tried to keep a low profile in the city, he was surrounded on several occasions by angry mobs. he appeared in public in episodes that were fast shared on social media. Both the city’s 24-hour sports radio stations received calls from so-called Benablers who confessed their sins and argued for hours whether he was the most hated Philadelphia jock of all time (with the unanimous opinion that he was). Lines of ticket holders formed at the Wells Fargo Center entrances more than an hour before the doors opened. And from the moment Simmons walked out of the tunnel about 55 minutes before opening in a black sleeveless T-shirt, a deafening chorus of hoots rained down from the mezzanine like nothing seen on Monday Night Raw.
Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets makes his way to the bench ahead of Thursday’s game. Photo: Elsa/Getty ImagesAfter the starting lineups were announced, Simmons took his place halfway to the Brooklyn bench in an eye-catching yellow and black designer T-shirt that stood out against the Nets’ signature monochrome. Although it was officially the Sixers’ 65th tournament in the 82-game regular season, the building had an unmistakable playoff atmosphere: the 20,478-seat arena was full, standing room tickets cost $250 on the open market, and flocks famous athletes. (Allen Iverson, Julius Erving and Jalen Hurts) and rappers (Mick Mill, Lil Baby and Travis Scott) watch from the backyard. There was an increased security presence around the Brooklyn bench, including uniformed and plainclothes guards, who were thankfully not needed until after the ejection of one lone bully in the fourth quarter.
James Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP who joined the Sixers in the Simmons trade, crossed half court to greet several of his former teammates during a pregame shootout. Simmons hasn’t spoken to any of the Philadelphia players—hardly a surprise given the legitimately hilarious news this week that he changed his phone number without telling anyone on the team—although he quickly greeted the Sixers coach. Doc Rivers before the start of the second half. .
The intensity of the BS sideshow made it easy to forget that you had to play a real basketball game. It wasn’t immediately clear that the Sixers also remembered. Philadelphia went into action on Thursday, winning all five of their competitions with Harden on the roster, but the Nets represented the Sixers’ biggest challenge in their new guise, and unfortunately their 10-time combo quarterback from that moment has been reduced.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry combined to score 49 of Brooklyn’s 71 first-half points, taking the edge off “Fuck Ben Simmons!” chants that echoed around the arena as the Nets quickly pulled ahead and never once allowed the Sixers to fall within touchdown distance. “I think we all treat Ben like our brother,” said Duran, who scored 18 out of 25 team points before the break. “We knew it was a hostile environment. It’s hard to sing about Ben Simmons when you lose so much.”
Philadelphia 76ers fan tee featuring Ben Simmons. Photo: Elsa/Getty ImagesWhile Thursday’s game didn’t pan out, the buzz in the room somehow didn’t die down, at least until the very end, and the enthusiasm was carried over to the NBA’s Twitter. The sight of Durant and Joel Embiid chatting to each other towards the end of the first quarter had the crowd on their feet and galvanized LeBron James call back from the couch. Even after the proceedings had long since spiraled out of control with eight minutes remaining and the Sixers down 30, the building erupted with another thunderous rumble as Simmons rose from his seat to return the dead ball to the referees.
When the horn finally sounded, Simmons congratulated a couple of his teammates in front of the Brooklyn bench before turning abruptly and disappearing into the tunnel. “It was a good environment to start, but when we got off the court it was different,” Duran said. “Regardless of who played tonight, we were locked in.”
Simmons’ evolution from franchise player to Philadelphia’s most despised athlete isn’t as easy as if a star player left town in search of greener pastures. After being selected by the Sixers with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and made him the centerpiece of a daring and controversial makeover known as The Process, he showed promise early on by winning Rookie of the Year awards and being named to three All-Star teams. . . But Simmons’s inability to spot the weaknesses of his game – most notably his shooting – was too often flaunted in the brightest light.
It all came to a head during last year’s shocking loss to the Hawks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, where game after game he threw fewer and fewer shots, missing more free throws than overall, and effectively cut the Sixers to 4 to 5 on offense. all the way to a spiritual crushing blow: his mysterious missed dunk in the final minutes of game seven. But until the very end, Philadelphia’s notorious critical fans lent their unwavering support to their imperfect star in the hope that he could make a difference. All this led to a divorce with especially acute pain.
Good news? The best may be yet to come for a pair of stellar clubs with intertwined destinies separated by 100 miles of Interstate 95. The Nets came into play Thursday after losing 17 of their previous 21 games but made it clear that when things clicked, they would re among the NBA’s scariest packs. And with the 6ers sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, there’s a pretty good chance the two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs. “This is just our sixth game together as a unit,” Harden said. “I’m still trying to figure everything out. But today we had a good time. We got our butts kicked.”