Rise and Shine: Ben Simmons is knocking down jumpers in the gym and once again, I’m begging the Sixers to complete The Process

There’s truly nothing better than waking up on a random Wednesday, August 12, 2026, smack dab in the middle of the dog days of summer, and seeing Ben Simmons bless your timeline.

It’s that magical time of year where we get Ben Simmons in the gym, knocking down jumpers, with every eye emoji imaginable in the replies watching this man drain shots like he’s prime Michael Jordan.

Ben Simmons is always peak offseason content, and I am eating it up.

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Just last week, the Ben Simmons campaign entered a new phase, raising every eyebrow in Philadelphia by posting several pairs of LeBron James’ signature sneakers to his Instagram Story, specifically from the LeBron XXIII “Old Glory” line.

Subtle? Not even a little.

Ben Simmons posted several pairs of LeBron James signature shoes on his Instagram last night >>

I don’t want subtle. I want Ben Simmons practically begging his way back to Philadelphia, and that’s exactly what this is. Now we’ve got him knocking down JUMPERS, days after we saw Benny Boy back in the gym down in the land Down Under.

Here’s what actually matters underneath all the Instagram theater. According to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Ben Simmons is expected to be a full participant with “zero restrictions” at a player-led Australian men’s national team mini-camp in Melbourne starting Monday. For a guy whose entire career has been derailed by injuries, “zero restrictions” might be the two most important words in that entire report.

Simmons took all of last season off specifically to fully heal from the injuries that wrecked the back half of his career, and the early signs are promising. A coach who recently worked him out said he’s regained his athleticism. Simmons himself told Andscape that this is the best he’s felt in years. He cared enough to pay his own way to this camp in Melbourne, which tells you exactly where his head is at.

NBA free agent forward Ben Simmons is expected to be a full participant with “zeros restrictions” in a player-led Aussie men’s national team mini-camp in Melbourne beginning Monday, sources to @andscape. Simmons took last season off in hopes of completely healing from injuries.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 10, 2026

Ben Simmons is playing basketball with “zero restrictions” in Australia, with multiple NBA teams circling >>

That’s a big deal. The knock on Ben Simmons was never talent, it was availability and the physical breakdown. If he’s truly healthy again, athletic again, and feeling the best he has in years, then suddenly the version of Simmons that made three All-Star teams and two All-Defensive teams becomes a real possibility again, not just a memory.

The Basketball Fit Makes Complete Sense

Whatever you think about the way Simmons’ first tenure in Philadelphia ended, and I know the trade-request-and-holdout saga in 2022 left scars, the on-court fit here is genuinely perfect. I’ve been banging this drum for a while now. Rich Paul, who happens to also be LeBron’s agent, already floated the idea of Simmons reinventing himself as a center and working in the post, and regardless of how you feel about the guy, that vision makes a ton of sense.

Don’t get emotional. Just think about it. Ben Simmons is big enough to handle the backup center duties behind Joel Embiid, which happens to be one of the Sixers’ biggest roster holes. He’s an elite defender who can guard multiple positions. He’s a phenomenal facilitator who can run an offense as a connector, and he loves to push the pace, exactly like LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey.

A rolling, defending, playmaking backup big who doesn’t need touches to be effective is precisely what this roster is missing, and Ben Simmons checks every one of those boxes.

On a team loaded with LeBron, Embiid, Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Edgecombe, he’d be a low-usage role player with zero pressure to score, which is the ideal environment for the best version of Ben Simmons to actually exist. He doesn’t need to be the guy. He just needs to defend, facilitate, and run, and this roster hands him the perfect low-stakes stage to do exactly that.

I want Ben Simmons to shut up the non-ball knowing dorks on Twitter

Here’s the truth of why I want Ben Simmons back more than anything. I want it to shut up the heartless NBA Twitter dorks who claim to know ball but have never hooped a single day in their lives.

You know exactly the type. The statsexuals who reduce every player to a spreadsheet and have never once felt what it’s like to actually play the game.

The ones who nervously check the pulse of other miserable Sixers fans before deciding whether they’re allowed to say a Ben Simmons reunion is good or not, because they can’t form an original thought without first confirming it’s the acceptable take in their little echo chamber.

Before you ask, I was a CYO All-Star. Thank you very much.

Anyways, these are mindless idiots. Genuinely.

They fail to realize the most obvious thing in the world, which is that the Simmons-Embiid era was the best era of Sixers basketball in DECADES.

That was the golden stretch. That was the most consistent, most talented, most fun this franchise had been in a generation, and these clowns spent the whole time complaining about it because a box score told them to.

Now, adding Simmons back as the final bench piece on an already loaded, already deep Sixers roster would be the best possible outcome imaginable. Not a risk. Not a gamble. The best-case scenario. But the dorks can’t see it because they’ve never understood basketball beyond the numbers on a screen.

Complete the Process

Here’s the part that matters most to me, and if you’ve been reading The Liberty Line over the years, you already know where I stand on this. Bringing Ben Simmons back would truly complete the Process and restore order to the realm of Sixers basketball once and for all.

Ben Simmons is one of us. He hated the previous Sixers organization, and guess what? We all did. I won’t go as far as saying he was right, but you can’t argue with his frustrations. Not to mention, Simmons was there for the tanking. He was there for the suffering, the blown leads, the heartbreak. The whole thing ended in the ugliest way imaginable with the passed-up dunk in Game 7 and the holdout, and it left this franchise and this fanbase with a wound that never fully healed.

RAISE EM IF YA GOT EM

Bringing him back now, as a role player chasing a ring on a LeBron-Embiid contender, would be the perfect full-circle ending to the entire era. The redemption arc writes itself, and it’s the kind of story that makes sports worth caring about. The guy who suffered through the darkest days of the Process, coming home to finally get his ring alongside LeBron and Embiid? That’s the movie. That’s the ending we deserve.

Make It Happen

We should all want Ben Simmons back in Philly. Keep dropping the jumper videos. Keep showing up to camp with zero restrictions and telling the world you feel the best you have in years. Every single update makes the case louder, and I’m more convinced than ever that this reunion needs to happen.

He’s healthy. He’s motivated. He’s campaigning. The fit is perfect. The story writes itself. All that’s left is for the Sixers to clear the room and make the call. Bring him home. Complete the Process and let’s shut the dorks up once and for all.

I need this, and I need it bad.

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