"I don't talk to Jo; We never really spoke" - Ben Simmons reveals there was never any relationship with Joel Embiid, says you can't force a friendship

Ben Simmons finally appears to be in a happy place. The Brooklyn Nets player, who sat out the entire 2021-22 NBA season because of his fractious relationship with the Philadelphia 76ers and later because of injury, is playing ball again. The former Rookie of the Year participated in the Nets' preseason games.

Simmons' latest appearance for the Nets came in their preseason outing against the Milwaukee Bucks. Simmons almost tallied a triple-double in the game as he put up seven points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in a 107-97 win for the visiting Nets.

Following the win against the Bucks, Simmons spoke to ESPN staff writer Nick Friedell about his relationship with his former 76ers teammate Joel Embiid. Simmons candidly stated that he doesn't have any real relationship with Embiid. When asked if he had spoken to Embiid recently, Simmons replied:

"I don't talk to Jo. We never really spoke."

Elaborating on his relationship with the 2022 scoring champion, Ben Simmons said:

"I don't think there was really a relationship there. Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it's never personal. I don't have any anger or hate towards him.

"He is who he is and I am who I am. And we've got our personal lives. And work is basketball, so in that moment, my goal is to win and I got to win with Jo. He's a great player. We just didn't get it done."

"I can't wait to go there," says Ben Simmons about playing in Philadephia on November 22

Philadelphia 76ers v Brooklyn Nets

Ben Simmons faced a lot of flak from the Philadelphia 76ers fan base, following his disappointing play in the 2021 postseason. The 76ers loyalists were even more irked when he decided to sit out the 2021-22 season while still being a member of the franchise.

Even after he was traded to the Nets in February 2022, Philly fans kept targeting him, particularly when the Nets returned to play on March 10. Although Simmons did not play in that game, the Philadelphia faithful kept going after him with "F**k Ben Simmons!" chants.

Simmons, however, is excited to return to Philadelphia and play in the game scheduled to take place over there on Tuesday, November 22. He told ESPN:

"F**k, I can't wait to go there, yeah. But for me, everything's an experience and a learning situation. So, for me, I'm able to learn something that I've never been through before. I've never been traded and played against a team that I got traded from.

"Kev [Kevin Durant] has, Ky [Kyrie Irving] has, a lot of guys have, but I've never been in that situation, so you have to go through it. Ky went back to Boston, and he didn't play well, but it's a lot. We're people, too. We want to go out there and prove everyone wrong."