Getty Kendall Jenner at Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Lakers game
Winning can change a lot in the world of professional sports. It can impact the chances of a team retaining a big-name free agent, it builds chemistry with teammates and also helps to get fans off the back of players’ girlfriends. Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons knows a bit about that last part, thanks to his public relationship with Kendall Jenner.
Unfortunately, the model was originally given the Jessica Simpson treatment from her days of dating former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo earlier this year.
While Simmons and Jenner haven’t come out as an official “couple,” they’ve been spotted together quite a few times, seemingly having rekindled their offseason relationship. But once the season began and Jenner was in attendance for a Sixers game in Philly earlier this season, things didn’t go well. The team had posted a 10-0 home record prior to her first appearance – a date with the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Infamous Kendall Jenner Petition
The Sixers went on to lose that game to the Cavaliers, leading to all kinds of backlash from fans and a petition on Change.org to ban Jenner from the Wells Fargo Center was even created. Things took an ugly turn for the Philly fanbase very quickly.
Change.org
Not only is the petition still up and running, but it has over 10,600 signatures and still picked up new signatures within the past 24 hours at the time of this article. It goes on to state that “Ben Simmons’ career is in jeopardy” and “an innocent man in Jimmy Butler is injured” (Butler suffered a knee injury that game).
Fortunately, Butler’s knee injury wasn’t serious, as he proceeded to score 34 points and hit a game-winner against the Brooklyn Nets two days later. But more importantly, the presence of Jenner at Sixers games has quickly shifted in the other direction.
Sixers’ Dominance With Kendall Jenner in Attendance
Shout out to Jamie Lynch of 97.5 The Fanatic for nailing down the Sixers’ record with Jenner in attendance. As he revealed, the team has reeled off a 12-1 record with Simmons’ rumored girlfriend at games since that first loss, currently sitting at 12-2 after the win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kendall is now 12-2 on the year in attendance at Sixers games. she better be courtside in the playoffs.
Team Bendall hasn’t just become a fun thing for the media to talk about, but it’s actually positively impacting Simmons and the Sixers it seems. Beyond that, many are finally getting on board with the budding relationship, especially if the team keeps winning games.
If Ben Simmons were in the dunk competition he would’ve dunked over Kendall Jenner and then proposed and I would’ve cried. Trust the Process! It’s happening @BenSimmons25!!
We now have fans creating Kendall and Ben Twitter accounts and people loving the idea of the Sixers star with Jenner. Obviously, the team is having success with the model in attendance, and in Tuesday’s win over the Lakers, Simmons tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
It’s hard to ignore the success, so maybe a petition should be created to bring Jenner to more Sixers games moving forward? I’m guessing more than a few members of the fanbase would hop on board with that.
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