Nets' Kevin Durant on 'quiet' 76ers fans: 'Hard to chant at Ben Simmons when you're losing by that much'

 

Philadelphia 76ers fans appeared to be having a lot of fun leading up to the tip-off of Thursday's highly anticipated matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, largely due to the presence of former Sixer Ben Simmons. Though he wasn't active for the game, Simmons sat with his Nets teammates on the sideline and even got some on-court work in before the game.

The entire time, he was serenaded by a chorus of boos and chants from the Philly faithful, who still harbor hard feelings about the way Simmons demanded a trade while refusing to play for the 76ers this season.

As the game progressed, however, the jeers toward Simmons were quieted by the Nets' brilliant performance, as they dominated their way to a 129-100 victory. By the end, some Philadelphia fans had even turned their boos toward their own team rather than Simmons. Kevin Durant, who led the Nets with 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, noticed that the Wells Fargo Center crowd got awfully quiet once his team started pulling away.

"We look at Ben as our brother, so we knew that this was a hostile environment and we knew that he didn't have the opportunity to play, so we wanted to come out there and have [the 76ers fans'] focus on the court more so than just always focusing on him," Durant said after the game. "So they focused on the court tonight. It's hard for you to chant at Ben Simmons when you're losing by that much."

Durant also noticed that much of the 76ers crowd had vacated the building by the end of the game, leaving a strong contingent of Nets fans.

"It was very quiet towards the end. We ain't hear no more Ben Simmons chants from the Sixers fans," Durant said. "It was more Nets fans in here than anything."

Simmons has yet to make his debut with Brooklyn, but it must have been nice to watch his former team get wiped off the floor on Thursday. On paper, Simmons is a perfect fit on the Nets with his defense, passing and proficiency in transition, but question marks will continue to surround him until he's able to perform on the court for the first time since his underwhelming postseason performance last year.

Pretty much every NBA fan is hoping that the 76ers and Nets meet in the playoffs at some point, at which time Simmons will have to deal with more consistent booing and chants. It must make him feel good, however, to see that his new teammates already have his back.

"It's not an individual thing for us. We all felt it. We're all there," Nets guard Kyrie Irving said after the game. "If you come at Ben, you come at us. If you come at anyone else on our team, you come at all of us. That's the mentality."