Doc Rivers On Playing Against Simmons: "You Want To Beat Them More"

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is at it again, stirring up the pot with a potentially unadvisable comment. When asked about playing the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night and the lack of a potential Joel Embiid vs. Ben Simmons matchup due to Embiid's injury, Rivers took a little jab at his former point guard.

Doc Rivers on no Simmons-Embiid matchup tomorrow: "They’ll get their chance. It’ll happen at some point. But it still has to remain, at the end of the day, the 76ers want to beat the Nets, period. And maybe with (Simmons) on there, you want to beat them more...

— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) November 21, 2022

"They’ll get their chance. It’ll happen at some point," Rivers began, "but it still has to remain, at the end of the day, the 76ers want to beat the Nets, period. And maybe with (Simmons) on there, you want to beat them more..."

Back in 2021, it was an ill-advised comment by Rivers that started the entire Simmons Fiasco back in Philly, leading him to demand a trade and sitting out the entire season until he was eventually dealt to Brooklyn. 

Rivers was asked after the Sixers were eliminated in those 2021 playoffs if he thought Ben Simmons could be the point guard for a championship team, and the coach responded with "I don't know...". That really set off the whole firestorm that landed us where we are right now. 

And where we are right now is a juicy matchup with Simmons and the Nets returning to the scene of the crime in Philly on Tuesday night to take on the Sixers for his first game back in the City of Brotherly Love. 

And there isn't a basketball fan anywhere that isn't anxious to see the Philly fans' reaction to Ben's return to their court.

Photo: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports