Dwyane Wade Was Impressed by Ben Simmons' Dunk vs. Pacers

There wasn't much for the Philadelphia 76ers to celebrate on Monday night. As they continued a two-game road stretch in Indiana, the Sixers were looking to pick up their first win on the road for the month of January.

Considering how the last meeting with the Pacers on the road went, the matchup didn't seem too promising -- especially since the Sixers didn't have their starting center on board in Joel Embiid. As the big man is recovering from hand surgery, the Sixers need some of their other stars to step up and get some work done.

Seeing as though Ben Simmons is a former first pick, many want the Sixers' versatile point guard to start scoring like a superstar. On Monday night, Simmons had one of his better games offensively, as he led the Sixers in scoring with 24 points.

While his jump shot is still absent, the third-year point guard has begun to turn his aggressiveness up a notch when it comes to driving to the basket.

Many have been asking for the six-foot-ten-inch Simmons to start bullying the defense and making his imprint on the game with more signature slam dunks. And lately, those who have been asking are receiving.

On Monday night, Simmons made a couple of highlights for his aggressive play. And one of his former opponents took notice and issued Simmons credit on Twitter for it. Former NBA guard, Dwyane Wade was tuned in on NBA Twitter Monday night.

After Wade stumbled across a video of Simmons laying down a vicious dunk, the Miami Heat legend issued credit to the Sixers' point guard.

Ben tried to hurt someone feelings on that dunk https://t.co/WI1rJlIGdx
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) January 14, 2020

It took some time, but eventually, Simmons noticed Wade's message and responded accordingly with a laughing emoji. Although Wade and Simmons haven't spoken much to each other on social media throughout their times battling each other, it's not much of a secret there's mutual respect between the legend and the youngster.

In fact, this past Summer, Simmons was spotted rocking a Dwyane Wade Miami Heat jersey while vacationing on a beach. And no, it wasn't the Wade jersey that Simmons received in a swap, following their final matchup against each other last February.

Instead, Simmons purchased his own Wade jersey to pay homage to the retired guard. As the two have built up a friendship over the last few years, there's clearly a lot of respect there between Simmons and Wade.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow Justin on Twitter: @JGrasso_