Getty Ben Simmons #25 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets acquired Ben Simmons in the blockbuster James Harden trade with the Philadelphia 76ers at the February trade deadline. After trading for Simons, he was unable to appear in a game for the Nets last season. He battled injuries for the entire second half of the season. When the Nets acquired him, he was expected to need a week or two weeks to get back into game shape, but that never happened. His faced back injuries and a ‘mental block’ that kept him out of the season and postseason.
Simmons made his return to NBA play for the first time in over 470 days this preseason, and while he looked rusty, he is back on the court and playing with his Nets teammates. One of the expectations that the Nets gave Simmons this offseason was to rehab close to the team in Brooklyn, and he did that. At every turn, the Australian point guard has appeared committed to this Nets team. He’s even been more open with the media, giving interviews. We have heard more from Simmons in the last month than his entire career, it feels like. In a recent interview with ESPN’s Nick Friedell, Simmons continued that in an interview, and one of the topics discussed was his relationship with Joel Embiid.
Ben Simmons on his Relationship with Joel Embiid
Ben Simmons played four seasons as teammates with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia. The duo was primed to be the faces of the ‘Trust The Process’ Sixers teams. The two from the outside didn’t have the best relationship. Embiid has taken jabs at Simmons in the media before, and Simmons detailed their relationship more, saying how they never really were close as teammates. Friedell shared the transcript of his conversation with Simmons in his recent article for ESPN.
“While we’re on this topic — have you talked to Joel [Embiid] yet?
Simmons: I don’t talk to Jo. We never really spoke.
You guys had a lot of success when you were there. How would you describe that relationship now?
Simmons: 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,” Friedell wrote.
Ben Simmons on his Relationship with Nets Teammates
While his relationship with Embiid was less than ideal, Simmons recently spoke about his relationship with his current Nets teammates and it was much more encouraging.
“I got support from all these guys, the coaching staff, the organization, so it’s up to me to go out there to do my job now and work. But you know, Kev, Ky have been great to me. Royce [O’Neale] has been phenomenal. It feels like home. It feels normal to be here and come to work. Besides that, we just need to put that work in and build some chemistry,” Simmons said.