{"id":375515,"date":"2025-12-29T07:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/375515\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T07:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:47:06","slug":"anfernee-simons-returns-to-portland-for-weird-reunion-with-old-trail-blazers-teammates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/375515\/","title":{"rendered":"Anfernee Simons returns to Portland for \u2018weird\u2019 reunion with old Trail Blazers teammates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anfernee Simons<\/a> has roamed the Moda Center hundreds of times over the last eight years, seemingly stepping foot into every nook and cranny the 30-year-old building has to offer.<\/p>\n

But the former Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> guard stumbled into a new and unfamiliar spot Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The visiting locker room.<\/p>\n

Simons made his first stop in Portland since the team traded him to the Boston Celtics last offseason, playing 19 minutes off the bench in the Blazers\u2019 114-108 win. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of felt a little weird,\u201d Simons said. \u201cBeing a visitor and going to the opposing locker room, coming out of the other tunnel. But it was fun to see everybody that you built strong relationships with in the organization. It was fun embracing the moment and embracing the love \u2026 knowing that you made some type of impact here.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been five months since the Blazers shipped Simons to Boston in the trade that brought veteran point guard Jrue Holiday<\/a> to Portland. Simons has said in past interviews that he was \u201churt\u201d by the deal and he admitted Sunday that it caught him off guard. <\/p>\n

After all, he practically grew up in the Blazers organization. The team drafted him<\/a> when he was a teenager<\/a>, groomed him from an end-of-the-bench backup into a featured player, and signed him to a $100 million contract extension just three years ago. When Simons was a rookie, All-Star Damian Lillard<\/a> used to say that reporters would want to talk to Simons long after Lillard was gone.<\/p>\n

There was a part of Simons that figured he\u2019d play his entire career in Portland. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut, obviously, it\u2019s a business at the end of the day,\u201d Simons said. \u201cAnd at any point you can be here and then somewhere else. So you just have to enjoy each and every moment that you spend. And I think I did that last year. I enjoyed all the moments I had with our whole team, organization, and I won\u2019t regret anything for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from the final score, Simons clearly enjoyed himself Sunday. <\/p>\n

Before going through his pregame workout, he strolled over toward the Blazers bench \u2014 his old bench \u2014 and greeted former teammates and friends with a smile, exchanging hugs and handshakes with Donovan Clingan<\/a> and Lillard, assistant general manager Mike Schmitz and equipment manager Eric Hallman. When Simons finished his pregame workout, he chatted with a former Blazers front office executive and shoe company representative, then signed a sea of black Blazers jerseys for a family of kids, scribbling his name on his old No. 1.<\/p>\n

Less than two minutes into the game, the Blazers celebrated Simons\u2019 seven seasons in Portland with a video tribute on the jumbotron during a timeout. They touted his work in the community, his win in the 2021 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, his memorable game-winning shots and the moment he passed Wesley Matthews for third place on the franchise\u2019s all-time three-pointers made list.<\/p>\n

Afterward, the crowd of 17,949 recognized Simons with an ovation. He beamed, waved thanks, then tapped his heart in appreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reaction was about as good as I thought it was going to get,\u201d Simons said, smiling, afterward. \u201cIt was cool. I tried to take in the moment the best way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simons checked into the game for the first time with 6:51 left in the first quarter, sporting a black Boston No. 4 uniform. Seventeen seconds later, he curled around a screen at the top of the key and swished a three-pointer. It was an up-and-down performance after that. <\/p>\n

Simons made just one of his next five shots, missing three threes, but responded by scoring eight consecutive Boston points in the third quarter, swishing a three, nailing three free throws and completing a fast break reverse layup. Then he played less than three minutes in a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, when the Blazers\u2019 defense held Boston in check to earn a win. <\/p>\n

Simons finished with 13 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist, making 4 of 11 shots, including 1 of 5 threes. But it came in a rare loss for the Celtics (19-12), who sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings and had won nine of their previous 11 games.<\/p>\n

Simons has been an integral part of the success, averaging 12.8 points, 2.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds in a new role as the Celtics\u2019 Sixth Man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s had a great attitude and approach to the process of winning and what we need from him on a nightly basis,\u201d Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. \u201cObviously transitioning to a different role can be tough, but his buy-in to the defensive end has been great. And then, obviously, his scoring has been good for us. So we\u2019re happy to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, Simons said he\u2019s happy to be part of an \u201chistoric franchise\u201d and \u201cwinning organization.\u201d But it was clear that a part of him still misses his first NBA home. Simons said he keeps tabs on the Blazers via NBA League Pass, settling down in his Boston home after Celtics games to watch his old teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as our game is over with, their game is just starting,\u201d he said, noting one of his favorite things about living on the East Coast.<\/p>\n

Simons touted the growth of the young Blazers, praising Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Sidy Cissoko and Clingan. And he couldn\u2019t help but admire the grit his old team has shown under acting coach Tiago Splitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they play hard each and every night,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously we didn\u2019t make the playoffs last year, but I thought, for the most part, we were taking steps. I think we ended the year pretty well. And that\u2019s all I wanted, just to take those steps. I\u2019m just proud of the steps that we (took) and you see this year, they have continued. \u2026 I think they\u2019ve got the right people over there \u2014 Jrue and Dame \u2014 to help them continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the night was over, Simons left that unfamiliar visiting locker room, turned left and made his way down a long corridor, past Lillard and his family and a horde of other folks.<\/p>\n

Simons, who was carrying his game-worn uniform from Sunday \u2014\u00a0signed \u2014 had one final chore before departing Moda Center. <\/p>\n

\u201cI got this for Toumani,\u201d Simons said. \u201cHe asked for my jersey after the game.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anfernee Simons has roamed the Moda Center hundreds of times over the last eight years, seemingly stepping foot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-375515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}