“Papa, where were you the day the sun stood still?” the young child asked his father.
“Ah, come here my boy, let me tell you all about it,” the father responded to his son.
A day to remember
It was on the 20th of November in the city of brotherly love. The NBA season was still young, and above all, full of hope and promise. Arriving into town to battle that evening were the Knickerbockers from New York. They were a familiar foe and it would be the first of four battles we would face all season long, so winning that evening would be of the utmost importance.
We were heavily favored to win the contest. Over 135,000 people came to witness what was going to happen that evening. It would be a night they would never forget.
We believed in our team. They weren’t without criticism, or without fault, however, we believed in them nonetheless. Our floor general was a young, towering Australian, named Benjamin Simmons. He was quite the player, who had excelled at many aspects of the game. He did, however, have one area of vulnerability.
Entering his third campaign, our beloved Ben Simmons had yet to score from a long-range. Not including last-minute heaves, he really hadn’t attempted many to begin with. He began to hear the talk from the peanut gallery, and in an attempt to silence those who doubt his abilities, he reminded them of the skins he has already put on the wall; winning the prestigious rookie of the year honor, followed by his first all-star birth.
A prayer to the basketball Gods
On this day, something was different. Young Ben Simmons had competed in 12 battles on the season so far, and like the years previously, he still struggled to silence those who doubted him.
As the battle tipped off, our 76ers took to the offense early. Simmons scored the first points within seconds of the contest beginning. I prayed to the basketball gods, “Sun, stand still over Philadelphia, and night, stick in New York for a while.” After that, the sun stood still in our land, while New York stayed dark, until the moment we had all been waiting for happened.
With eight minutes and 20 seconds left in the first quarter, Furkan Korkmaz began to draw the attention of those who opposed us. As they moved forward in an attempt to stop him, it left Simmons without anyone defending him. Korkmaz took advantage of this development, passing the offense to Simmons.
Simmons from the corner planted his feet, eyes gazed towards victory, and beautifully released the ball from behind the line and sunk the first three-pointer of his career. Those in attendance that day erupted in cheer, a moment they will never forget. Our side won the victory that day, and Simmons was well on his way to win the war.
We can all agree this is the moment of the game, right???#PhilaUnite | @budweiserusa pic.twitter.com/qIUa5Y1IPW
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 21, 2019
Follow me on twitter @_charlesallen_, for more basketball-related ridiculousness.
