Men\u2019s Health. <\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t have a plan on where.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the uncertainty around timing and opportunity, Simmons did narrow down the list of teams he sees as realistic or appealing fits if he does return to the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I\u2019ll go back to Philly,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMiami would be nice. And not because it\u2019s Miami, I like Erik Spoelstra, I like the Heat, I like their organisation, I like the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia 76ers remain the most emotionally charged option. It\u2019s where Simmons was drafted No. 1 overall in 2016 and where he developed into a three-time All-Star, a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, and one of the league\u2019s most polarising young stars before his exit from the franchise.<\/p>\n
A return there would be one of the more unexpected storylines in recent NBA memory, but Simmons hasn\u2019t ruled it out.<\/p>\n
Miami, on the other hand, represents a very different kind of appeal. The Heat have built a reputation around discipline, accountability and player development, with Erik Spoelstra widely respected across the league as one of the most demanding coaches in basketball.<\/p>\n
Simmons made it clear his interest in Miami isn\u2019t about lifestyle or market size, but basketball environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot because it\u2019s Miami,\u201d he added. \u201cI like Erik Spoelstra, I like the Heat, I like their organisation, I like the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrates a dunk during the first quarter against the Washington Wizards during Game Two of the Eastern Conference first round series.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
For now, there is still no confirmed timeline for when Simmons will return to NBA action, and no clarity on which teams would genuinely be in position to take a chance on him. But his comments suggest he is already thinking ahead to the next chapter, and where that might unfold.<\/p>\n
Whether it ends up being a reunion in Philadelphia, a fresh start in Miami, or somewhere else entirely, Simmons\u2019 comeback remains one of the more closely watched storylines heading into the next NBA cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Simmons is edging closer to an NBA return, and he\u2019s not hiding the fact that he already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-769427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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