The fan standing along the railing in the Wells Fargo Center’s lower stands was a guy in his 20s. No more than that. As Ben Simmons exited the court late Tuesday night, his Brooklyn Nets a 115-106 loser to the Sixers’ JVs, the fan’s eyes were bulging. His voice was shrill. And then he screamed … well, something, in Simmons’ direction. It wasn’t exactly clear what. It just came across as high-pitched gibberish.
Simmons, his face blank, proceeded through the tunnel leading toward the visitors’ locker room in his game shorts and an undershirt, having passed along his No. 10 jersey to a well-wisher. The fan, meantime, lifted the tarp covering the egress and peered down from his perch, maybe 15 feet above. Again he screamed, and again it seemed like something only the dogs in the neighborhood would be able to comprehend.
It was that kind of night. A night when the notoriously tough Philadelphia fans neither took nor landed their best shots in the first game Simmons played in town since he was traded to the Nets in February. Brooklyn coach Jacque Vaughn had said beforehand that he expected it would be a “Vince Vaughn earmuffs night,” a solid reference to the movie Old School, and while there were boos and occasional “bleep Ben Simmons” chants, this wasn’t on par with J.D. Drew dodging batteries in the Veterans Stadium outfield in 1999, or fans driving over Terrell Owens’ jersey in the parking lot when he returned to town as (gasp) a Dallas Cowboy in 2006.
In truth, the fans’ vitriol seemed more performative than venomous, more obligatory than onerous: This is the role we’re supposed to play, dammit, so we sure as hell will.
Observers say the reception accorded Simmons was much worse when he returned in March but sat on the bench, unable to play. That came amid a season he missed in its entirety for various reasons (a trade demand, a suspension, record fines and claims on his part of mental-health issues while still in Philly and, after he departed, the discovery of a herniated disk in his back that required surgery).
That night in March, the derision was real, the sad memories of his five-plus years in town too fresh – memories of the dunk he passed up late in his last game as a Sixer, a Game Seven playoff loss to Atlanta on June 20, 2021. Of his refusal to shoot threes, and his inability to make free throws. Of his failure, really, to connect with the paying customers.
But Tuesday? Eh. It wasn’t even a full house.
“I thought it was going to be louder,” he said afterward.
If the fans felt obliged to play their part, let the record show that Simmons remained in character, too. HIs 11-point, 11-assist, seven-rebound, three-steal, three-block performance wasn’t nearly as good as it sounds, and resembled some of the low-impact games he played, particularly in the postseason, while with the Sixers.
Nor did the Nets, a big-ticket team that appears to have a small ticker, venture outside their spot on the playbill. They boast plenty of star power in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but displayed little interest in defense or rebounding, evidence of the value of worker bees.
The Sixers, playing a bunch of understudies, were the only ones worthy of a curtain call. Minus the injured Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, they out-hustled and outworked Brooklyn, building a 49-35 advantage on the boards and a 20-4 bulge on the offensive glass. They also nailed 16 of 32 threes – the Nets were 9-for-28 – and led almost the entire game.
“It’s the same shit – 20 more shots than us and seven more 3-pointers,” Durant groused. “That’s the game.”
Vaughn raised the surrender flag when he yanked his starters with three minutes left, and with about 20 seconds remaining Durant stalked to the locker room, well before everyone else. “Here Come the Sixers” had just begun echoing throughout the arena as he did so.
“Just overall as a group, how serious, how focused, how dedicated were we on every possession?” said Vaughn, who succeeded Steve Nash on Nov. 1. “I’ll have to ask the group that and I will ask them that. So overall just not what we needed and that’s the great thing about basketball: You pay for it when you don’t bring it.”
So yeah, they were boo-worthy as a group. But it goes beyond that.
“Nobody likes Ben,” Durant said. “Nobody likes Ky. Nobody likes myself, so it might be like that in every road arena. So it’s just something we’ve got to deal with.”
The jeers are well-deserved. Durant reportedly issued an ultimatum over the summer: Trade me, or jettison the coach (Nash) and the general manager (Sean Marks). Irving is just back from an eight-game suspension after tweeting out a link to an antisemitic film, and only apologizing belatedly for doing so. And Simmons quit on his previous team.
Versatile group.
“There’s a lot of stuff that probably factors into (the hate),” Durant acknowledged. “NBA fans, they’ve really got love for you but it’s just misplaced love, I guess.”
He tried to peddle the notion that that is the case in Philadelphia as well, that the fans “had a lot of great memories with Ben,” but that’s a tough sell. For the most part he frustrated them, left them wanting more. And it simply never came.
Simmons started out this season slowly but has been coming on of late. And he had his moments Tuesday, notably late in the second quarter when he stripped De’Anthony Melton, dove on the floor for the loose ball and tipped it upcourt to Durant for a breakaway dunk.
Simmons’ night was kind of a mixed bag, other than that. He shrugged at the crowd after nailing two first-quarter free throws. (“It’s basketball, you know?” he said. “We’re people, too, you know? We have emotions. It’s fun.”) He would later miss a pair, ensuring that everyone in attendance of free chicken nuggets from Chick Fil A. And he took a forearm to the midsection from Georges Niang, for which Niang earned a questionable flagrant foul.
But Simmons could do little to stop the avalanche. Nobody could. He nonetheless thought the night represented “a good step forward” in his own personal journey, a journey that continued with a 16-point performance in a victory in Toronto on Wednesday.
“I feel like I’m in a good place, for me to come in here and just play basketball,” he said Tuesday. “I’m happy. I’m doing what I love. So to be out there and have that experience was amazing.”
The boos and incomprehensible screams were behind him, the drama complete.
For now.
“I think it’s gonna be like this forever,” he said.
No question. The fans played their part Tuesday, did what they do. And while it might not have been a command performance, understand this: Philly is all about sequels.