Basketball News: With his relocation from Philadelphia to New York City, Ben Simmons is moving from one pressure cooker to another.
He’s not going to find a less demanding fan base or a more understanding media all of a sudden.
If Simmons wanted to resume his career quietly and out of the spotlight, he won’t be able to do it in Brooklyn. The Nets are a title contender playing in the largest market in the NBA, with numerous national television games. Every blunder they make along the road is scrutinised.
The Nets won’t be able to protect Simmons from that.
They do know someone who can assist them in dealing with the situation.
Patty Mills, a Nets guard and fellow Australian remarked, “I’ve got his back.” “I’ve always been by his side, and now I get to be with him.”
They were supposed to be Olympic partners for Australia last summer, where Mills is a basketball legend in a sports-crazed country. He was the first Indigenous Australian to carry the flag at an opening ceremony when he was one of the country’s flag bearers in Tokyo.
Simmons opted not to play for the Australians after being stung by postgame comments from 76ers coach Doc Rivers and centre Joel Embiid during a Game 7 loss to Atlanta in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Despite his absence, Australia won bronze in men’s basketball for the first time.
Being around Mills and the tight-knit Aussies may have aided Simmons in swiftly replacing a negative basketball memory with a positive one. Mills made the decision to leave San Antonio and sign with Brooklyn during the Olympics, and now he wants to make sure Simmons feels at ease there.
“I’ve had his back from afar, and I wish I could have been with him earlier in his career,” Mills added, “but I can do what I can from afar.” “I’m looking forward to working with him on these issues and assisting him in any way I can.”
Simmons had decided that the 76ers would no longer provide him with the assistance he required. Even if the responses from Embiid and Rivers that had irritated him last summer were purely basketball-related, Embiid’s words this season that it wasn’t his responsibility to babysit could have been troubling for Simmons when he cited mental health reasons for his inability to play.
The Nets are no strangers to this type of situation.
Last season, Kyrie Irving took a leave of absence from the team, and the Nets never put any pressure on him to return. He hasn’t been openly urged by management or teammates to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, which would allow him to play in the home games he continues to miss.
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