Ben Simmons says he "can't wait" to head to Philadelphia on November 22nd to face the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center.
"F---, I can't wait to go there, yeah," Simmons said in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN's Nick Friedell.
"But for me, everything's an experience and a learning situation," he continued. "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 also spoke about his friendship with Embiid, or lack thereof, saying the two never really spoke throughout his final months as a Sixer.
"I don't think there was really a relationship there," Simmons said. "Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it's never personal. I don't have any anger or hate towards him. He is who he is, and I am who I am. And we've got our personal lives. And work is basketball, so in that moment, my goal is to win, and I got to win with Jo. He's a great player, we just didn't get it done."
The 76ers did indeed win plenty of regular-season games with Embiid and Simmons as their top players, but they famously came up small under the bright lights of the postseason.
Simmons passed up an open dunk late in a series-clinching loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals, marking his final game on the floor with the 76ers. The three-time All-Star later requested a trade after facing public criticism from his coach and teammates.
When Sixers management declined to grant his request, Simmons held out, setting up an ugly standoff. He was later traded to Brooklyn in exchange for James Harden, in a swap of disgruntled superstars.
For his part, Embiid has also maintained that there are no hard feelings toward Simmons, and the he never wanted him gone from Philly in the first place.
"I never said that, to get him out of there," Embiid said on Draymond Green's podcast earlier this year. "I just didn't understand what was going on, honestly. I didn't understand what happened and what led to that situation. To this day, I don't understand. And I don't have any problems with him."
In any event, Simmons has returned to the floor with the Nets during preseason action, his first game action since the Sixers' fateful loss to the Hawks nearly a year and a half ago. He is hoping to regain his All-Star form in a star-studded lineup also featuring Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
