At around 6 pm this evening, Zach Ertz fired off a pregame tweet, the contents of which were a single emoji. Now, those familiar with Ben Simmons’s signature emoji spotted it right away. Here’s the tweet:

Zach Ertz was clearly taking a page out of Ben Simmons’ book, using the emoji for a quick little pregame pump-up tweet. However, there seems to be more behind the tweet than just getting the fans hype.

If you haven’t read the news, our very own TMZ Drew reported that Ben Simmons was at the team shootaround this morning ahead of the Sixers taking on the Pistons. According to those reports, not only was Ben in attendance, but he was “in good spirits.”

Ertz only tweeted out the emoji a few minutes after the report began to circulate. A little bit too coincidental if you ask me.

Is it most likely a scheduled tweet? Sure. Is he way too busy preparing for a primetime football game to follow Ben Simmons news on a minute-by-minute basis? Probably. Can it still be an homage to Ben? Absolutely. But let me put my tinfoil hat on for a bit before this dreadful Sixers game.

Ertz and Simmons may know each other. It’s not uncommon for Philly athletes to mingle. So does he possibly know something we don’t know about the status of Ben Simmons?

Of course, Ben Simmons isn’t available tonight, but could Ertz be signaling he’ll start against Atlanta on Saturday?

If that happens, I’ll absolutely lose my mind. It’d make this tweet an unreal move by Ertz too.

He could also just be trolling us. You may be thinking, “Why did you even write this article, you idiot?” In that case, you’re the even bigger dummy because you clicked and read to the end.

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