Ben Simmons On The Boos He Got In His Return To Philly: ‘I Thought It Was Going To Be Louder’

Ben Simmons played his first game of basketball in the City of Brotherly Love in a year and a half on Tuesday night. The Brooklyn Nets made the trip down to Philadelphia to take down a hobbled 76ers squad, but despite the fact that Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey were all out with injuries, Philadelphia managed to pick up a 115-106 victory.

For Simmons, this marked his first game in the city since the team decided to trade him at the deadline last season as part of a package that landed them Harden. While he had a nice game — Simmons went for 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting with 11 assists, seven rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in 32 minutes of work — it ultimately was not enough.

The fans in Philly were, unsurprisingly, pretty fired up about the game. Simmons did not receive an especially warm welcome from the folks at the Wells Fargo Center, as they booed him during pregame introductions and throughout the night. When asked about it after the game, Simmons seemed to take the whole thing in stride.

“I thought it was gonna be louder,” Simmons told the press. If the entire history of Philadelphia sports is any indication, Sixers fans will assuredly take this to heart and be louder when Simmons and the Nets return to town on Jan. 25, 2023.