Nets star Ben Simmons says he “never really had a relationship” along with his ex-Philadelphia 76ers teammate Joel Embiid, and that the 2 haven’t spoken because the blockbuster commerce final season.
Simmons, throughout a sitdown interview with ESPN in Milwaukee, mentioned he didn’t take it personally when Sixers followers booed him whereas he was on the bench in the course of the Nets’ March 10 matchup in Philadelphia final season.
The star ahead mentioned he’s wanting ahead to really taking part in towards his former staff on the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 22.
“F—, I can’t wait to go there, yeah,” he informed ESPN. “But for me, all the pieces’s an expertise and a studying state of affairs. So for me, I’m capable of study one thing that I’ve by no means been by means of earlier than. I’ve by no means been traded and performed towards a staff that I received traded from. Kev [Kevin Durant] has, Ky [Kyrie Irving) has, numerous guys have, however I’ve by no means been in that state of affairs, so — you must undergo 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.”
But after all, there’s going to be drama. Simmons might be taking part in each towards a former head coach in Doc Rivers and a co-star in Embiid who threw him underneath the bus after the 76ers misplaced Game 7 of the second spherical of the 2021 NBA Playoffs towards the Atlanta Hawks. Rivers recommended he was uncertain Simmons could possibly be the purpose guard of a championship staff and most lately declined to replicate on his time teaching Simmons in the course of the 76ers’ preseason-opening journey to Brooklyn.
Embiid flat-out blamed Simmons for the loss after Simmons turned down an open dunk and as a substitute handed the ball to a teammate who missed a shot: “I don’t know how to say it,” Embiid mentioned after that sport, “but I thought the turning point was we had an open shot, we missed and we made one free throw.”
Simmons, nevertheless, mentioned he and Embiid have been by no means as shut of pals as their success as teammates would point out.
“I don’t talk to Jo,” he mentioned. “We by no means actually spoke.
“I don’t think there was really a relationship there. 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.”
Simmons informed ESPN that profitable a championship in Brooklyn “would mean everything” to him and it “would be a dream come true.”
“In a situation like this, being in Brooklyn with these guys and this city, it would be incredible,” he continued. “We got a long way to go, but I think this team’s capable of special things.”
Simmons additionally mentioned he’s in one of the best place he’s been in a while.
“I think so,” he mentioned. “You know what? I know so.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com