Ben Simmons faces a baptism of fire when he makes his long-awaited, much-hyped NBA regular season debut for the Philadelphia 76ers against one of basketball's elite guard tandems.
Washington Wizards' experienced duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal are ready to teach the 21-year-old rookie from Melbourne a lesson.
76ers coach Brett Brown is expected to start the 208cm tall Simmons at point guard, putting him in direct battle with the lightning quick duo of Wall and Beal.
"I'm a competitive person so I'm not going to back down from any challenge," Wall, a four-time All-Star who signed a $US170 million ($A217 million) contract extension earlier this year, told reporters ahead of Wednesday's (Thursday 10am AEST) season-opener for the teams in Washington DC.