It's a day of destiny for Ben Simmons and Philadelphia sports fans, who have eagerly awaited Thursday night's Sixers-Nets game in order to loudly let the former franchise cornerstone know he's a ... well, let's just say he's not a 76er anymore.
The bitter separation that led up to Simmons' divorce from Philadelphia is personal for fans in this city in a way that's likely to be misunderstood by outside observers, which is part of what feeds the resentment. Any surface-level conclusion that Philly fans by nature are brimming with over-the-top hostility to spew at under-performers and standoffish personalities just does not tell the whole story.
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The truth is, Ben Simmons was a bright ray of hope for a team that sucked terribly to select him with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The anger and disgust over how he forced his way out of town are ultimately secondary to the disappointment that one of the most highly touted, generational basketball prospects failed to push himself to the pinnacle of his talent in Philadelphia. He chose to bail instead of adapting, and to shift blame instead of facing fears that could no longer be disguised by youthful inexperience or the clout of his social status.
Nobody wanted to despise Ben Simmons. That's why there's so much vitriol among fans who feel that the player they wanted to believe in left them no choice. Simmons always acted above the player-fan relationship. He didn't respect tough love or acknowledge positive reinforcement from fans. He seemed to find it all parasocial and obsessive in a way that directly contradicts Philadelphia's strengths as a sports town.
Call it a bad fit. The Sixers now have a superior player in James Harden and are better off than they would have been if Simmons had stayed in an environment he couldn't stomach. This is the best possible outcome.
A few videos of Simmons back in town have surfaced in the run-up to Thursday's game, with fans booing and shouting at him in Center City, or snapping a creep shot of him grinning at his hotel.
Whether Simmons deserves all of this light stalking, he has to know he's earned a lot of it with the fiasco he created. He's got to accept being a public enemy in the place he spent the first leg of his career.
With all due respect to Ben Simmons' mental health and wellness as a man, nothing about this situation is supposed to feel comfortable for him as a basketball player.
Tonight's spectacle at the Wells Fargo Center is made especially bizarre by the fact that Simmons will not be playing due to injury. The optics of it are strange. There's a big basketball game and Ben Simmons — maybe, maybe not? — is supposed to be sitting on the Nets bench getting roasted for a few hours by 20,000 people.
If that's all Simmons can do to show his face, then yeah, that'll do. Forget about his flimsy grievance. How about Philadelphia's?
As long as no fan crosses the line of common sense and decency — please — this night should be cathartic and help clear away baggage for a realistic run at an NBA championship.
Ben Simmons will have to make many more trips to Philadelphia during the rest of his NBA career, which is resuming at a pivotal point for him whenever he eventually takes the floor. Let the reception tonight be a reminder to him that the first part of his legacy is leaving a team and fanbase in disrepute.