Philadelphia 76ers fans greeted Ben Simmons with boos and a verbal barrage as he took to the court before this morning’s game against the Nets, and fellow Aussie teammate Patty Mills was right beside him.
Simmons returned to Wells Fargo Center in Brooklyn Nets gear for the first time since his trade from the Sixers and the fans let him know about it during the pre-game shoot-around.
Yet Boomers teammate Mills was there to absorb some of the abuse along with Simmons, with the 3pt-trigger man running out with his Nets teammate at the same time to start their warm-up.
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The sight of Mills would come as no surprise to fans, with the Aussie widely recognised as one of the most supportive teammates around the league.
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As the two Aussies walked onto the court they could be seen sharing a word before splintering off, with Simmons bouncing the ball up and down the court.
The boos rained down in waves as the crowd poured in, with Sixers officials confirming that tickets for the game were the most sought after in a decade. Seats in the upper section of Wells Fargo went for $200 while lower seats were priced at $US4,000 minimum (about A$5,450)
The Sixers added a fence by the players’ entrance with an increased security presence around the court. Yellow rope around the perimeter was brought in for the fixture, with security officials deployed like a playoff game, facing the crowd during timeouts.
Simmons worked out before the game as he was pelted with abuse, although that didn’t stop him from greeting some Sixers officials on the other side of the court. Simmons was seen saying hello to several people, but none of his former Sixers teammates.
Nearing the end of the warm-up, the Aussie dunked the ball and received a huge cheer from the crowd, which seemed to surprise him.
Once the game tipped off, he took his seat next to Mills among the active players on the bench.
During the match whenever the crowd chanted “f— Ben Simmons,” the Wells Fargo Center sound operators turned the music up to drown out the taunts.
It seemed like fans were a bit too eager to see the Australian.
Some of the vision from the game showed one fan wearing a crying baby mask that had a label on the front which had a picture of Simmons along with the caption “Mister Softee.”
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The three-time All-Star was heckled before he even arrived at the arena with Philadelphia fans waiting for the former No.1 pick at the Nets team hotel.
The Aussie attended a morning shoot-around with the Nets at his old home arena, and appeared to be in a relaxed mood in vision of him chatting to teammate Blake Griffin.
Simmons maintained his cool when he arrived back at the team hotel, even though several Sixers fans showed up to boo the star.
He stopped to sign autographs, when one fan unloaded on him about his lengthy stalemate with the team which ultimately led to him being traded for James Harden.
“Why the grievance,” the fan said.
“Why spit in the face of Sixers fans?
“Why the grievance, Ben?
“We did nothing but support you for five years, you know that.”
“Thanks for James,” another yelled, in reference to the trade that saw Harden leave the Nets for the Sixers.
When he left the hotel to get onto the team bus, several fans flipped the bird at him as he entered , with one heard saying, “Ben Simmons, you stink!”
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