Ben Simmons has played in all of the four NBA pre-season games of the Brooklyn Nets after missing the formal NBA competitions for over 470 days. In an interview with ESPN this week, the 26-year-old Australian star shared how much he missed the games, how he dealt with the criticism and other matters.

Simmons was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nets in February for James Harden. Before that, Simmons refused to play for the 76ers during the 2021-22 season, citing injuries among other reasons. He didn't play for the Nets either last season and underwent back surgery in May.

"You know, the first game I came back and played against the Sixers? The feeling of being on the court was so surreal it just felt like that's what I was missing, in the sense of my life. Being on that floor ... was just like, 'This is where I'm supposed to be. This is where I feel comfortable – on the court.' So it's a blessing just to be back here and moving and playing against the best players in the world," Simmons said.

Despite his unique talents as a 2.11-meter-tall point guard with incredible athleticism, Simmons has been under long-time criticism for good reasons. One of them is his poor shooting performance and his refusal to fix that problem.

"They're going to say that ('Ben can't shoot') regardless. Even if I hit a shot, what are they going to say? 'I still can't.' ... That's like saying can Giannis [Antetokounmpo] shoot? Can he?" Simmons answered when asked what he does when fans say he can't shoot. He said he is now able to block those noise. 

"Sometimes I'm even sick of it, but then I'm like, 'OK, I'm Ben Simmons,' you know? Even the other day there was a clip of me air balling a shot at the park. Meanwhile, like 10 guys air balled multiple shots. So it's like people will find one clip and try to make it that everything – like Ben can't do [this or that]. You think I'm just air balling every shot? It's not true. But you got to have tough skin and I realize that, but I can't take everything personally. It's social media," he added.

Though Simmons already played against the 76ers on October 3, it was only a pre-season game at the Nets' home court, the Barclays Center. Neither Joel Embiid nor James Harden played in that game. The Nets are visiting the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center in a regular season game on November 22. Simmons is looking forward to it.

"I can't wait to go there, yeah. But for me, everything's an experience and a learning situation. So for me I'm able to learn something that I've never been through before. I've never been traded and played against a team that I got traded from. Kev has, Ky has, a lot of guys have, but I've never been in that situation so – you have to go through it. Ky went back to Boston, and he didn't play well, but it's a lot. We're people, too. We want to go out there and prove everyone wrong," Simmons told ESPN.

Simmons played four seasons in the 76ers which drafted him with the first pick in 2016. He grew to become an All-Star player and an elite defender there, but also had one of the roughest periods of his career in the team. Simmons admitted that he never spoke to Joel Embiid, who used to be his All-Star teammate.

"I don't think there was really a relationship there. Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it's never personal. I don't have any anger or hate towards him. He is who he is and I am who I am. And we've got our personal lives. And work is basketball, so in that moment, my goal is to win and I got to win with Jo. He's a great player, we just didn't get it done," Simmons said.

Though Simmons has so far only appeared in the pre-season games for the nets, he has already produced some highlights. For example, his defensive performance on Giannis Antetokounmpo against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday was impressive as Simmons limited the "Greek Freak" to 6-for-21 from the field. As a two-time All-Defensive First Team member who can switch to guard all five positions, Simmons will be able to make significant defensive contributions on the Nets' roster. Meanwhile, the team has enough 3-point shooters to maximize his orchestrating power and doesn't need to rely on him to score since they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

"I got support from all these guys, the coaching staff, the organization, so it's up to me to go out there to do my job now and work. ... It feels like home. It feels normal to be here and come to work," Simmons told ESPN.