By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Wednesday night's Sixers game had a lot of positives, despite the late-game turnovers that kept the team from a potential Opening Night win. The most impressive performance of last night beyond Robert Covington's 29 points and three-point shooting was the debut of former first round pick Ben Simmons.
The 6-foot-10 point forward finished his first NBA regular season game with a double-double, scoring 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds. In addition, Simmons dished out five assists and tallied two steals. Simmons is in some elite company when it comes to NBA debuts. The last four players prior to Simmons to score 18+ point, have 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists in their NBA debut are Grant Hill, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson
After the game, ESPN's Doris Burke spoke with Wizards guard John Wall and asked his thoughts on the young Sixers team, comparing Simmons to one of the NBA's greatest talents.
"Ben Simmons, he's one of those guys that, like a LeBron – gets the ball off the rim, he's pushing it and finding his teammates, he can finish at the rim."
Wall also called Joel Embiid one of the most talented bigs in the league.
Going into the 2016 NBA Draft, Simmons drew comparisons to LeBron. Last night, Simmons showed elite court vision and ability to drive into the lane and finish, but now he needs to work on developing a consistent scoring touch if that LeBron James comparison will hold true.
