Ben Simmons back to Philly? Star hints at NBA return to Sixers or Heat

A return to Philadelphia for former 76er Ben Simmons? The three-time All-Star is onboard.

In an interview with Men’s Health, Simmons hinted at an NBA return and rehashed his infamous passed-up dunk vs. the Atlanta Hawks during a 2021 playoff series.

Here’s what Simmons had to say about a possible NBA return and the missed dunk.

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Simmons, who did not play last season after playing in only 18 games during the 2024-2025 season, said he plans for get back into NBA shape by working out in Miami in the near future.

This includes “two and a half to three hours of lifting and body work, as well as hour-and-a-half sessions on the court, with a day or two off every week. He hopes to be back to full strength by his 30th birthday, July 20,” Men’s Health reported.

“I plan on getting as strong as I can physically, getting my ass on the court, and then the team realizing that my abilities will be needed,” he says. “I don’t have a plan on where.” He feels like he still has a lot to offer teams (“You can’t teach 6’10” and IQ,” he says), and he’s been talking to coaches who have told him to get healthy, because if he’s healthy, he has a spot. “Maybe I’ll go back to Philly,” he says. “Miami would be nice. And not because it’s Miami—I like Erik Spoelstra, I like the Heat, I like their organization, I like the culture.”

Since leaving the NBA, Simmons turned his attention to professional sport fishing.

In May, the Simmons’ owned-South Florida Sails captured the Sport Fishing Championship Blue Marlin Open at Walker’s Cay in the Bahamas.

“Who would’ve thought we’d be on ESPN for some fishing?” Simmons tells me over the phone from L.A. He’s out there seeing some specialists about his back and knee. He says he’s feeling great, something he hasn’t felt in so long he can’t even put a date on it. “You kind of fall into it just being a normal thing, and then you’re like, Oh, wow, like this is how I really should be feeling. So it’s cool to feel that now.”

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Ben Simmons back to Philly? Star hints at NBA return to Sixers or Heat