76ers fans turned on their young star, who then turned on those fans.
In front of their home crowd Saturday in Game 1 against the Nets, Ben Simmons and the Sixers slumped out of the gates and fell behind by nine points early in what would become a 111-102 loss.
As the underdog Nets took control of the contest, the fierce Philly crowd turned their attention onto their own playing group.
Simmons ended the game with lowly figures of nine points and seven rebounds, registering a -21 plus/minus from his 32 minutes of game time.
He became a key target of the fans’ vitriol in the third quarter, when he missed a free throw and had a large chorus of boos rain down on him from the rafters.