Sixers star Ben Simmons has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols and is eligible to rejoin the team, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. However, he didn’t travel to Detroit for the team’s preseason finale on Friday, per Shelburne, who hears from sources that Simmons is “reconditioning” after missing training camp and the preseason.
A source close to the situation told Marc Stein of Substack on Friday that things are “trending toward” Simmons suiting up again for the Sixers — if not on opening night, then sometime after the regular season begins. A timeline for the 25-year-old’s return would hinge on his conditioning and his level of engagement, Stein writes.
Shelburne published an Insider-only story at ESPN today, taking a deep dive into the Simmons situation and reporting some new details on how it has played out this year. Here are a few of the highlights from that story:
- A memo from the NBA and NBPA earlier this fall stated that a player without a reasonable excuse “will not” be paid for games he misses. Previous memos from the league had used softer language (such as “would not”), which Simmons’ representatives believed left the door open to potentially recoup some lost salary. The tweak to that wording closed the door on that possibility and was likely a factor in Simmons’ decision to end his holdout, writes Shelburne.
- On the morning of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in June, a Sixers masseuse returned an inconclusive COVID-19 test, prompting the team to ask players – for contact-tracing purposes – who had seen her that morning. Only Simmons said that he had, and multiple sources tell Shelburne that some people within the team questioned whether Simmons had actually seen the masseuse or if he was trying to get out of playing the final game of a series in which he struggled badly.
- A source close to Simmons told Shelburne that he simply answered the question honestly, and he was ultimately cleared to play following a negative test. However, Shelburne’s report suggests the three-time All-Star was aware of the skepticism from some corners of the club, which may have affected him ahead of Game 7. “He was thrown,” a source tells ESPN.
- Echoing an earlier report from Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice, Shelburne says that when Simmons met the Sixers in August, he expressed a belief that he hadn’t been afforded the same sort of leeway other top draft picks get to grow and make mistakes in their first few seasons. Simmons wanted a fresh start in a place where he “could make mistakes,” Shelburne writes.
Capitalism works! The team couldn’t find anyone willing to pay market value and Simmons decided losing tens of millions of dollars was a bad decision.
Of course capitalism doesn’t smooth ruffled feathers. So this will be interesting
Has it worked for Kyrie Irving and the Nets yet?
No. But the team hasn’t actually taken any money from him yet.
So its worked?
Has he actually played a game so that his value can rise? All the money did was change the type of protest.
James Harden came back too and then he went to a party without a mask and dogged it for a week… Trade.
Philly exchanged one problem for another and now they have to pay him.
Dear baby Ben. You have been in the league for 5 years. you’ve had time to work on a few mistakes. Still no progress in your outside shooting or free throws. Be accountable. You signed a max deal. Give maximum effort.
Didnt the Sixers decide to suck so badly that they would get the top pick?
They have a very strong moral argument about a guy who is doing what he was taught. Exploit the rules to get what you want.
100% agree. What goes around, comes around. Philly didn’t have a winning culture when Ben was drafted, nor did they in the years that followed. That would obviously rub off on a young, impressionable player. You reap what you sow, Philly. The process phailed!!
@thegreat @cf
The process and his complaining have nothing to do with each other frankly. Your logic boggles the mind. You would be hard pressed to name me one team that didn’t acquire a franchise changing play via the draft that didn’t do so by being awful. But once they collected Ben, Embiid, etc the goal was to get better and compete. A player’s responsibility is to stay in shape and try to improve their craft. The fact that Ben is complaining because he had to suffer the indignity of being on a team that became good quickly is laughable. The team went from 28 wins to 52 in two years. Tell me where this losing culture effected him harshly? He went thru the same conditions most other top picks go thru. Stop with all these stupid excuses for his lack of dedication to be a better player and justify that contract.
Spurs tanked for Duncan, Knicks for Ewing, Cavs for LeBron. Tanking is NOT new. Wake up child.
I think this is a good outcome for sixers. Suit up play well and reevaluate down the road. Good works sixers FO
#FreeBenSimmons
Fans will boo Simmons relentlessly and he’ll get his feelings hurt again and refuse to play.
So “will” trumps “would” legally. I have read that “must” trumps “will” so it must also trump “would”. (Bet that trumps “couldawouldashoulda”!) Probably depends on the state. As long as the lawyers get their cut.
So we see why Simmons’ camp consulted with the Sixers FO about fining. Not even espn knows for sure and has to parse mineute language details!
The part that REALLY tweaks me is the whole leeway to make mistakes and grow over the first couple of years. Are you serious? The mistakes and areas of growth are at the exact same position from when he came into the league. I guess he forgot the reaction he got when he hit a 3 in the EXHIBITION game. No one ever asked him to become a sniper. All I’ve ever asked was to work on free throws and drive the lane. The sad thing is, he’s put more effort in the last six weeks to get off the team than he has in the last six years to improve his game.