Ben Simmons has finally returned to practice with the Philadelphia 76ers. As many experts predicted he would not have an option, eventually. Once he realized that a trade for him is not possible for an array of reasons, he had no option but to be back.
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How his return has affected the front office, the coaching staff, and team chemistry is unknown at the moment. However, once they released the footage of his return to practice, NBA fans did not budge in speaking their mind. Some Philadelphia fans tried to defend the decision of the front office to not trade him. While some thought he was overvalued.
However, most of them had some hilarious takes on the footage. This is how the fans responded to the footage released on Ben Simmons’ return to practice.
Ben Simmons participating at Sixers practice. 👀
Twitter erupts as Ben Simmons returns to the 76ers training facility
Teams want him, the Sixers just overvalueing him like crazy
For like half a second then Ben is dead.
Embiid to Simmons at practice
Ben clearly doesn’t want to there. His next move is to play like this:
Embiid passing to Ben Simmons
Not sure I’d call this participating, more like just kinda there
Ben in practice
So what does this mean for Simmons and Philadelphia?
After all the drama that had unfurled during the off-season, this return is bound to affect the chemistry of the team more than anything else. However, we can predict that Ben Simmons won’t get a lot of minutes on the floor. His fit in the team is very hard to find. Since he has clarified that he does not want to be there. Moreover, he even refused to meet his teammates when they wanted to come to see him. So it is natural that now that he is back, the locker room tension must be insane.
USA Today via Reuters
May 29, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) celebrates with 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) against the Washington Wizards in the third quarter during game three in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Despite being an All-Star caliber player, Ben chose to only return after the 76ers front office refused to pay him his dues. It’s not a surprise that the organization did that. Even their Head Coach Doc Rivers hinted at his lack of trust in Ben’s abilities. So will Ben finally value basketball more than money and decide to settle his differences for the franchise? Or is this only a temporary measure to keep the cheques coming in while he works on a trade? Let us know what you think.
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