By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
If you've followed the Philadelphia 76ers through the entirety of The Process, you know how exciting it is to be a fan of the team these days. With an promising young core of talent that includes the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Markelle Fultz, the sky is the limit for the Sixers this year and moving forward.
Outside of the Sixers recent success and overall performance this season, one of the biggest "debates" among fans is the Rookie of the Year race. Both Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell are phenomenal young talents, but in the end, it would be surprising if Ben did not win the award. He's been compared to greats like Magic Johnson and current superstar LeBron James while putting his name in the record books next to guys like Oscar Robertson.
One of Philadelphia's most beloved Sixers of all time is Julius Irving. Prior to Wednesday night's game against the Nets, the Sixers organization unveiled a statue of Dr. J outside of their facility in Camden, NJ, and the Philadelphia legend was honored prior to the game. He was asked his thoughts on the impressive season put together by rookie Ben Simmons, claiming the former LSU product is a rare player type that doesn't come along too often.
"Once-in-a-decade, maybe once-in-a-lifetime type player," Erving said. "Able to make everybody better immediately each and every time down the floor. Guys are spotting up or looking to cut, keying off the triggers that come out of his handling skills and he's got the head up, looking up at all times. Sometimes it looks like he's got eyes in the back of his head."
After hearing about Dr. J's comments, Simmons was flattered, noting how surreal it is to hear that from a player that his dad always talked about when he was a kid.
"I think it's just surreal," said Simmons. "Especially coming from Doc. My dad used to talk about him a lot growing up and now I'm playing on the team he used to play for.
Check out the full videos of both Dr. J and Simmons from Wednesday below:
