Nets' Ben Simmons Says He 'Can't Wait' to Play 76ers in Philadelphia After Trade

The entire city of Philadelphia will be waiting with boo birds—and probably some other birds—ready to fly at Ben Simmons when the Brooklyn Nets visit the Sixers next month.

Simmons says he's ready.

"F--k, I can't wait to go there, yeah," Simmons told Nick Friedell of ESPN. "But for me, everything's an experience and a learning situation. So for me, I'm able to learn something that I've never been through before. I've never been traded and played against a team that I got traded from. Kev has, Ky has, a lot of guys have, but I've never been in that situation so...you have to go through it. Ky went back to Boston, and he didn't play well, but it's a lot. We're people, too. We want to go out there and prove everyone wrong."

Simmons exited Philadelphia in February as one of the most reviled athletes in the city's history. After years of defending the three-time All-Star amid his lack of development as a shooter, Sixers fans turned on him—and hard—as he melted down during the 2021 NBA playoffs.

The situation reached a fever pitch when a chorus of boos rained down on Simmons after he passed up a wide-open dunk, seemingly in fear of getting fouled, during the Sixers' Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Sixers spent the 2021 offseason attempting to find a trade partner for Simmons, who then refused to play after the front office didn't find a deal to its liking. Citing mental health concerns, Simmons held out for more than five months before the Sixers sent him to Brooklyn as part of a deadline-day deal that brought James Harden to Philadelphia.

When the Nets visited Philadelphia a month after the deadline, fans lined up in droves to express their dislike of Simmons despite the fact he wasn't even playing because of a back injury. Still, Simmons says he hopes for a potential reconciliation down the line.

"Who knows? I can't predict the future," Simmons said. "I would have never told myself this would have gone this way at the start of my career. Who knows if in four or five years I end up going back? I don't know. It could be a whole different situation, but for now, I don't want to make my mind up and say it's not possible for anything to change."

It's clear there are still some hard feelings on a personal level from Simmons as well. While he expressed admiration for Joel Embiid as a player, he made it clear the two never shared a personal relationship while they were teammates.

The dynamic when the two share the floor for the first time as opponents will be one of the most intriguing storylines of the NBA's first month.