Nets proud Ben Simmons played well, handled booing in Philly
Brooklyn Nets' Ben Simmons, right, goes up for a dunk past Philadelphia 76ers' Paul Reed during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Credit: Matt Slocum
Everyone associated with the Nets was proud of how Ben Simmons handled all the boos in his playing return to Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Maybe Simmons had a little help in knowing what to expect. His teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have been booed before in their former places of work, Durant in Oklahoma City after he left for Golden State and Irving in both Cleveland and Boston after leaving those places.
There have to be a wide range of emotions for a player when your former fans focus on you negatively when you step on the court before the game, when you are introduced, and every time you touch the basketball.
That’s what happened to Simmons on Tuesday night. He was one of the few Nets to play well as he had 11 points and 11 assists in a disappointing 115-106 loss to the injury-depleted 76ers.
It wasn’t Simmons’ first time back in Philadelphia after he was traded to the Nets in February. On March 10, the injured Simmons was booed at the Wells Fargo Center while sitting on the bench in street clothes.
Tuesday’s experience, which Simmons called “amazing,” earned him the respect of his teammates, especially the ones who have been in that position before.
“It’s a lot of emotions,” Durant said. “A lot of you just want to play well. You know the fans are going to be involved and get excited. Well, not get excited, but just bring their best. But that’s in every arena. Everybody wants to see our team fail. Nobody likes Ben. Nobody likes [Irving]. Nobody likes myself. So it might be like that in every road arena. It’s something that we’ve got to deal with. I thought he did a great job just handling it and playing his game.”
Durant said he thinks fans booing a former player they used to cheer for is actually “misplaced love, I guess. We get it. At the end of the day, they enjoy watching us play. They all just had a lot of good memories with him and they didn’t like how it ended. They want to voice their frustrations. They feel like they’re part of the team, part of the league, so fans want to be heard.
“The last decade in the NBA, a lot of fans have been heard [on] social media and just how we highlight the fans nowadays. That’s part of the game. I think Ben understands that. We all understand that. The fans really respect us as men, but it’s a part of sports to get heckled and get targeted out there.”
Irving certainly knows what it is like to be heckled since it has happened to him in both of his former professional homes.
“I think he did well,” Irving said. “Obviously, wanted to focus on our team winning. But the crowd’s not going anywhere. It’s good to hear their loud voices, hear their boos. Next time, hopefully that motivates us to get that win a little bit more.”
The next time the Nets play in Philadelphia will be on Jan. 25. The volume on the vitriol might be turned down some, but chances are Simmons will still hear it.
“I think it's going to be like this forever,” Simmons said. “I don’t really see it changing. But I think every opportunity to go — especially an experience like this to play in Philadelphia having not played there yet — obviously, it's one step in the right direction for me as a player, and I think it was a good experience.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
