Ben Simmons is dreaming of taking his street clothes back to Philly

It’s that time of year when we get these Ben Simmons workout videos where he’s in the gym shooting baskets, lifting weights, knocking down three-point shots, and performing like an actual NBA star. But once the regular season rolls around (if he even plays), he morphs back into the guy who can’t seem to get out of his own head. However, Simmons recently added a new wrinkle to his offseason regimen. Now, he’s resorted to romanticizing his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I’ll always have love for Philly. People always ask me like, ‘If you were to get traded again, where would you want it to be?’ I always say, ‘Just Philly. Philly is a second home to me.’ And in time, you learn and grow as people. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Philly. It was a crazy situation at the end, but it is what it is.”

Broski, Philly doesn’t want you back. Sports fans are fickle at times and can be quite forgiving, but that ship has sailed. Sure, a portion of the team’s fan base might consider it and even welcome Simmons back with open arms. But everyone knows the overwhelming majority would give him hell upon returning to the organization.

That was one of the ugliest breakups we’d seen between a team and player in a long time. It’s said that time heals wounds, but these will take more than a couple of years to scar over and toughen up. Ben has yet to recapture what he once showed as a young player with the Sixers. He’s barely played in the league since Philly swapped him out for James Harden. Now Harden wants out. Jesus Christ, these guys are something else.

Stephen A. Smith is also disgusted with Simmons. The ESPN personality is always huffing and puffing over something, whether on First Take weekday mornings or his own podcast platform. Smith is already tired of hearing Simmons talk about what he’s going to do before he does it. The way Ben talks, it’s like he’s about to unleash holy hell upon the NBA this season.

“The version I’m at now, if I was playing against myself from last season, I would kill him.”

That sounds good, but like SAS says, just show us. No one wants to hear the talk. At this point, Ben is not expected to do much of anything in an NBA setting. That’s how far he’s fallen. He quickly went from being viewed as LeBron-like and hearing comparisons to Magic Johnson to where Simmons is now an afterthought.

SAS says Simmons needs to “show the hell up.” It’s not often I agree with Smith, but I’m on board with this notion. Everyone understands Simmons has had some mental health issues over the past couple of years, which were quite prevalent at the end in Philadelphia. That’s why this whole idea about him wanting to return to that franchise is absurd. Ben Simmons is out here selling wolf tickets with nobody in line to buy them.