Andrew Gaze blasts 76ers fans as ‘disgusting’ Ben Simmons acts go too far

Andrew Gaze has blasted 76ers fans for the “pathetic” way they treated Ben Simmons on his highly-anticipated return to Philadelphia.

Andrew Gaze stood up for Ben Simmons.

Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze has slammed 76ers fans’ “disgusting” treatment of Ben Simmons as he returned to Philadelphia for the first time since his move to Brooklyn.

Simmons’ icy stand-off with the Sixers following last year’s playoffs exit finally came to an end last month when he was traded to the Nets in exchange for James Harden.

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His refusal to suit up for Philadelphia this season upset the franchise’s fans and he was always going to cop a nasty reception when he stepped foot at the Wells Fargo Centre on Friday as his new team faced the 76ers.

Simmons was accosted by fans outside the Nets’ team hotel before tip-off, mocked and booed during a pre-game shootaround and targeted with a loud “f*** Ben Simmons” chant during the NBA clash.

Gaze said some of the treatment went too far, even for someone who is public enemy number one in Philadelphia.

“Everyone will have their opinion about Ben Simmons, but if you’ve seen anything on his social media of him going from the hotel to the bus — the disgusting, vile, vitriolic, pathetic comments that were being hurled at him — and then during the game, he was sitting on the bench with his teammates and a few people had to be removed from the facility,” Gaze told SEN’s The Run Home.

“If you want to yell and scream and boo and hiss – knock yourself out – but there is always a line which you cannot cross and it was just disgusting the way in which some people feel just because you’re good at basketball and you’ve had a dispute with your club, that allows people to use that type of language.

“It’s disappointing and it’s a blight on humanity that those types of comments and that type of abuse still goes on in this day and age.”

Philly fans wanted to make Ben Simmons’ experience a miserable one. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Simmons had the last laugh though as Brooklyn stormed to a 129-100 win.

Asked after the game about the crowd’s behaviour towards Simmons, Kevin Durant said the Nets were always going to support their Aussie recruit.

“He already knew we had his back,” Durant said. “It just felt good to quiet all them down midway through the game. It was very quiet towards the end. We heard no more Ben Simmons chants from the Sixers fans, there were more Nets fans here than anything, so that was good.

“We look at Ben as if he’s our brother. We knew this was going to be a hostile environment and we knew that he didn’t have an opportunity to play so we wanted to come out and have them focus on the court more than always focusing on him.

“They focused on the court tonight and it’s hard to chant at Ben Simmons when you’re losing by that much.”

Simmons had to grin and bear it on the bench. Photo: Elsa/Getty Images/AFP.

Speaking on TNT, Shaquille O’Neal said the fact Simmons chose to sit on the bench and face the crowd was a good sign.

“It would’ve been a better night if Ben was playing,” O’Neal said. “I give him credit for going out there, I wish he was playing.

“He had to go and I’m glad he’s sitting on the bench.

“If he didn’t, that would’ve told me a lot about him.”