Ben Simmons may be employed by the Brooklyn Nets, but he still has at least one good relationship rooted in Philadelphia’s basketball culture.
Sixers legend Allen Iverson offered some words of support for the now-Net this week at an event in Memphis, Tennessee.
I’m still rooting for him, you know. Obviously he’s not with [the Sixers] anymore. But, I’m thinking about him as a person. You know what I mean? I hope he comes out well from this whole thing, especially if we’re talking about mental health [concerns]. We don’t know what’s going on in his mind. And we don’t know about the people that’s surrounding him and feeding him the information that he needs to get past this whole thing that we definitely wish, if you care anything about him, that it passes. You know what I mean?
Simmons originally sat out to force a trade from the Sixers. Upon being traded, Simmons expressed happiness with a fresh start and about being a Net. Since joining Brooklyn, Simmons dealt with back discomfort as he ramped up his activity level in anticipation of a return to play. But the natural volatility of back discomfort, coupled with the frequently-mentioned mental health hurdles through which Simmons struggled, kept him off the court for the entire season.
Iverson added:
“You just hope that the foundation that he has around him is positive enough and smart enough to handle this thing the best way that they can,” Iverson said. “But it’s gonna be ugly. I think it’s important for him to stay and mesh with [his Nets teammates] in the offseason and work out with them; get a relationship with those guys and figure out a way to turn this negative thing into a positive. But it’s gonna be [difficult].”
Iverson is right, building equity with his teammates instead of vacationing away from them should help foster what already appears to be a bit of a rocky relationship. Simmons was due to make his season debut in Game 4 of the Nets’ first-round series with the Celtics until he unexpectedly backed out of playing the game due to a lapse with the back.
According to Shams Charania, the organization was quite disappointed in that sudden change. Simmons’ teammates and coaches were frustrated by his lack of determination in getting on the court and unwillingness to even be in uniform for the game instead of donning a gaudy street-clothes outfit.
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