Simmons hasn’t played since that 76ers game against Atlanta, where postgame comments from teammate Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers about his poor performance were seen as the catalyst for his trade request. Simmons, however, revealed that was not the case. “It was earlier than this series or even this season that I was dealing with and this organization knew that,” he said. “So it’s something that I continue to manage, and I get there and get to the right place to get back on the floor.”

Thanking 76er fans for their support, Simmons said he spoke to some teammates after the trade, as well as Kevin Durant, whom he will join at the Nets. “I think it’s going to be scary,” he said. “Having these guys running alongside me, multiple different guns on the floor and I think at the pace we want to play, it’s going to be unreal.”

Many expected Simmons and teammate Embiid to be a powerful pair on the court, and initially they led Philadelphia to the East’s best record last season. But as Simmons told reporters, by this stage he was already struggling with personal issues which meant he had to leave the club. “I think I just wasn’t in the place to do it and a lot of things happened that summer and I didn’t feel like I was getting that help,” he said. “But that’s how it is. I don’t have one – it wasn’t a personal thing towards a player or a coach or an owner or anything like that. It was about myself, arriving to a place where I need to be.