1:22pm: The Sixers have fined Simmons about $1.4MM for missing the team’s four preseason games and have also fined him for the various practices, workouts, and meetings he missed, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who says the 25-year-old hasn’t earned any money since he returned last week.
Wojnarowski adds that Philadelphia hasn’t changed its stance about not wanting to trade Simmons for role players. Even after today’s incident, no one should expect a quick resolution, says Woj.
11:13am: The Sixers have suspended Ben Simmons for one game due to conduct detrimental to the team, the club announced today in a press release. As a result, Simmons will miss Philadelphia’s regular season opener in New Orleans on Wednesday night.
The 76ers’ announcement was light on details, but according to reports from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links), the team handed out the suspension after Simmons was kicked out of Tuesday’s practice by head coach Doc Rivers for not being engaged. He was thrown out early in the practice when he essentially refused to participate in the next session, Woj adds (via Twitter).
“He was a distraction today,” Rivers said of Simmons, per Serena Winters (Twitter link). “I didn’t think he wanted to do what everybody else was doing. It was early, it wasn’t a big deal. I just told him, he should leave then, and we went on with practice.”
The plan had been for the 25-year-old to speak to reporters for the first time following today’s practice, but that won’t happen now, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com.
Simmons, who sought a trade this offseason, was a holdout this fall and missed the first two weeks of training camp and the preseason before reporting to the Sixers last Monday. He was cleared to join the team for practices on Friday, but we still don’t know with any certainty if or when he’ll play in games. The belief is that he reported to the 76ers in order to stop losing money for missing practices and games, not because his desire to be traded has wavered in the slightest.
Tuesday’s incident certainly doesn’t bode well for the odds of the three-time All-Star suiting up anytime soon. Sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that Simmons’ reluctance to “physically and mentally engage” has been a consistent theme since he resumed practicing with the club.
Joel Embiid told reporters today that he hasn’t spoken to Simmons since he returned, according to Neubeck (Twitter links).
“At the end of the day, our job is not to babysit somebody,” Embiid said. “… I’d be willing to babysit if someone wants to listen, but that’s not my my job.”
Good for you Ben! Don’t let the 76ers think that everything is fine and that they didn’t treat you bad!
lol. clev is the one place i want him to go due to it being a horrible place
Yeah, how dare they expect a max player to shoot above 40% from the free throw line and make wide open dunks /s
I think the point is not how he performed as much as what the team said/did immediately after that performance. Nobody wants to work for an employer that doesn’t want you there.
@j_butte
those comments didn’t say anything about not wanting him. Ben is under contract. Honor it like a Pro.
Well if we’re going to follow that logic, then trades shouldn’t be allowed. You know since both team and players are “Honoring” the contract both parties signed for the full length of said contract.
@maddog
The contract dictates the payment and service longevity of the contract. Absolutely nothing says they can’t be traded. But guess what IS guaranteed for guys like Ben? Thar regardless of their level of play or long term in nurture, they get paid 100% of their money, even if traded. The owners take on allllllll thr risk and pay the cost to be the boss. Players can ask for a no trade clause if that’s a legit concern for them. But this “play and say all the right things until you get your max contract and then bounce needs to end.
Donte DiVincenzo was traded for Bogdan last year but it fell through. This year Grayson Allen gets extended and Donte doesn’t. He will play his ass off again this year. Simmons is a rich, entitled, self-pitying juvenile.
He flat out sucked and got called out for it. Max money … now man up.
they need to pay him double if they want wide open dunks and a semblance of a personality
@jb. Finally someone who gets it. All the sixers want is him to play games, play better and up his trade value.
Shoulda thought of that when they signed him to the max contract. Now the power is all with him. Employment contracts are 100% for the benefit of the employee. Only the employer is encumbered for all practical purposes (because the employee can intentionally do a poor job if he wants out).
That’s ridiculous and not even worth a real answer back
@Seam
well…. obviously not since the team can fine him. everyone knows what’s going on and if Ben keeps up the behavior it’s like he’s throwing games.
Jack Daniels or Jim Beam?
@gocavs
can we stop acting like Ben is a victim? It may have been a poor choice to say what was said to the media by Rivers and Embiid but where were the lies? Ben is mentally soft and incredibly unprofessional.
This whole fiasco is detrimental to the game of Basketball and the entire NBA!
Well said
Daryl Morey should be banned from the NBA for this!
You should be banned for that take.
Maybe its Doc Rivers ego? There is a whole lot of blame to go around. Simmons is getting the cold shoulder from the entire team so his reaction is what some players do. Simmons is not old enough to blow it off.
@arc
he’s getting the “cold shoulder” because he refused to even meet with or speak to his teammates and made it clear he doesn’t want to be there
They took a huge s*** all over him after the playoffs, then shopped him, but because after all that he said Im done trade me he is the bad guy. If they dont want him they should move him, not Simmons fault Morey has no concept of his value.
Ben Simmons clearly has no concept of his value either
He wants to be valued as low as possible. Why would Ben Simmons want his new team to give up more assets they could use to help him compete to his old team?
This^. It’s in the sixers best interests that he plays, plays well, and rebuilds his trade value so the sixers can maximize any return. Unfortunately for them Ben apparently cares less about that.
Simmons is at fault for everything he did this summer, morey is at fault for his idiotic trade requests, doc is at fault because he’s got a little baby boy on his team and he expects him to act like a man…..Philly is a joke and the fan base deserves exactly as it is hahahaha enjoy caris levert and Justin holiday for Ben (we want 7 first rounders) hahahahahahahahaha
Levert and justin Holiday would be quite the return for a guy that is an issue that can’t shoot despite being a wing
Morey had a chance to get 2 draft picks and Wiggins for Simmons but his hate for the warriors out shined a trade that could have helped the Sixers. Now all they will get is Wall and a couple draft picks of unknown value.
wrong! it’s publicity for the league which means eyeballs viewers revenue anybody knows that…
Trump approves of this message. As he knows best, any publicity is good publicity.
Just look at the number of comments in this thread. The league loves this. And one saga isn’t going to affect the game. Now, if this were happening with regularity then folks might get a bit tired of the drama.
Sixers asked for it and they are getting what they want – a major distraction fiasco.
Just send him home without pay and let him sit for the next 4 yrs.
And good luck getting any NBA player with a choice to sign up with the Sixers.
The last big FA the sixers signed was Elton Brand. In today nba star players don’t go to Philly. Next
Well, they’ve got a few years left with one of the best players in the league, whom they drafted. If you think they can leverage high 20’s draft picks and a few minor trades into a supporting cast sufficient to win a title, I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
No love for Al Horford?
I disagree. The other 16 players on the Sixers roster will appreciate the team not putting up with his diva attitude. And I am sure there are lots of other NBA players with the same feelings. Sure you might not get other divas to come, but that seems like a good thing to me.
Highly HIGHLY doubt that. Simmons will talk to every player he can about how poorly he was treated. That will be that.
Starting with his teammates?
He can. And there will be a portion that will believe him. There will also be a portion that doesn’t buy his BS. I am sure that there will also be OTHER Philly players that will tell the other side of the story as well. Embiid has already publicly said he is tired of the antics of Simmons.
Hmmm…who are nba players to believe? A scorned ex wife in Simmons who has clearly not expanded upon his god given talents…or maybe they ask MVP candidate Joel Embiid his opinion, or perhaps former sixer and well respected star Jimmy Butler. I’m sure once conversation with Butler and no one wanting a title would pick Simmons over philly/Embiid
How poorly he was treated? Given a max contract despite not improving on offense one iota over the last few years? He’s actually regressed and takes even fewer outside shots than he did in his first and second years.
Signed a five year, $177.2 million deal and the Sixers are simply asking him to work hard and honor it. What a horrible demand. I’m a Knicks fan and therefore hate the Sixers but they’re not in the wrong here.
Simmons was treated fine up until post-playoffs when Doc and Embiid couldn’t take the L and keep their lips sealed, which was somewhat understandable but far from ideal. But since then, the Sixers have mismanaged this every step of the way. Hard to feel too bad for them here.
Doubt it. The players will wonder why the hell Morey hasn’t moved him already and has treated negotiations as a joke. They read the same stuff we do.
They’re definitely mad at both Simmons and the organization right now. As they should be.
@shea
I can guarantee you…nba players are not concerned with what we think. But they do see that a player on a max contract is behaving like a soft baby. these are Alpha males. this does NOT play well in the locker room. and honestly, I don’t know EVERY offer Morey listened to, but why settle for garbage or picks that might necessitate a rebuild with Embiid in his prime?
@seamaholic
you really think most nba players are siding with Ben? No. This would have zero aftermath with future FA. Embiid is the man on this team. Im surrrrre most would echo his feelings.
This is some good drama! Well, probably not for Philly fans…
kardashian curse. booker’s next.
Just get rid of him already. They’re contending this year and this distraction is going to hurt them
Unless Morey works some kind of miracle and gets a star back in return, they’re not contending, and I’m a Sixers fan.
The best deal they could get is the one they’re against – Ben for Kyrie. Salaries match up fairly well on AAV basis. On the court, they would both fill team needs. Off the court, they would both have something to prove.
Sending out one problem for another wouldn’t accomplish a thing since Kyrie would have a tantrum too.
@phenom
one diva for another. I say this as a huge on-court fan of Kyrie.
This is just Rivers way to retaliate against Simmons for what happened in yesterday’s practice.
Doc is a failed coach. Unless given talent that blows away everyone else he’s not very good.
What happened in practice yesterday?
Simmons was dogging it, just like everyone except blindfolded Sixers fans knew he would. He continues to have all the leverage. Every last bit of it.
If that were true, he would still be at home
No, because he has more leverage in Philly than at home. At home, Philly could hold his money over his head. Now, they can’t. The CBA regulates suspensions very tightly. He will be paid no matter how bad his attitude is as long as he’s willing to show up.
Exactly. At home Philly “can hold his money over his head,” which is why he is back – no leverage if he wants to get paid. Said he wasn’t coming back at all, but he did.
Doesn’t sound like leverage to me. Sounds like a disgruntled employee who is sensitive about his performance and can’t own up to it. He’s in the public spotlight, which is why he gets paid the big bucks, just not mature enough to handle it.
This was always the way to get more leverage for him come on. He was going to lose money sitting at home, which he was doing because he thought he would get his money till the mid season payment, but his people were wrong.
If he wanted out fast going the Harden route where you show up and cause problems, while not performing, was always the way for him to force them to either ship him or send him home paid.
So then why didn’t he just come to camp out of the gate? If he had all that leverage and would just dog it in practice, why risk the fines or the negative publicity? It’s ok to be wrong
Pretty simple and straight-forward… the player just has to show up, the team has to pay 30M+… advantage player. As to why he didn’t show up sooner… I think he was making clear what was about to happen next. There is no confusion.
He didnt want to come dog it to go, they wouldnt take any offers on the table and forced him back, so now he will make sure he gets paid and they know he needs to be traded asap.
There is still no change in leverage. All he has ever had in his favor is he is good at basketball. He is signed for 4 more years. Simmons can either play for philly or not. The Sixers can pay him to sit at home, who cares. It’s not my money, I sure don’t care. The Sixers have zero incentive to trade him for spare parts. They would gain zero cap flexibility, so they wouldn’t be able to sign a meaningful free agent. Those spare parts won’t make them a title contender. So you trade Simmons and you aren’t a contender or you keep Simmons and don’t play him and it’s the same situation. The only way they would be able to acquire another star is by using Simmons contract. Say what you will about his flaws, he is still a very valuable trade piece. They have a better chance at acquiring a star player with Simmons vs whatever spare parts/picks are on the table
Every day this continues he is worth less. Also expect the NBAPA to step in at some point, because they will tolerate fines while he doesnt report, but they are going to want a resolution. Morey needs to realize something is better than nothing. Get some role players and build around Embiid. If you want to stick it to Ben send him somewhere like CLE/MIN poorly run to languish.
How do you propose they build around Embiid? You seem to just ignore the points about salary constraints and lack of being able to contend with spare parts in my post. I’m curious, how does trading Simmons for spare parts make the team better? If his perceived current value is role players, then his value going lower from here means absolutely nothing. Can’t get much worse than role players
Dude Buddy Heild and other stuff is better than no salary cap relief or Ben Simmons playing. If you have to trade him eventually, and the deal will only get worse from here if he becomes out of shape and hasnt played in a prolonged period, it very much can get worse when teams need to match 32M in salary. They have a depreciating asset and should have traded him before the draft when teams had flexibility and more were interested. They could have gotten more, they could still get less.
Buddy hield is not better. They already have their version of hield in Curry. The Sixers will get no cap relief with or without Simmons. The owner will save a few luxury tax dollars (actually a lot) but the team will not be under the salary cap if they trade Simmons for $0. I would rather pay Simmons to sit on the bench and hope he cares enough about his career that he puts effort in than trade him for buddy hield and leave the Sixers in the middle of the eastern conference pack during embiid’s prime. If hield was actually worth something, he would have been traded by now. The kings have been trying for 2+ years to move him. They were going to accept lakers bench pieces for him. He is not a flippable asset
I highly doubt the NBAPA goes to bat that hard for Simmons in this situation. I can already see the Simmons rule coming to the next CBA. I doubt they want to get behind setting a precedent for a max player demanding a trade in year 2 of his contract. Plus, at some point the Sixers will have to pay him unless he keeps doing things to warrant fines/suspension.
Once he shows up and tries to do what is required to get paid they will be obligated to make sure that happens. This is like where MLB couldnt punish any of the Astros players because the MLBPA would fight for them even as most of there members were mad about it.
Yes, and when philly pays him, what will they do? You realize the rookie scale max extension is a benefit to players, not teams. Getting that 5th guaranteed year and higher raises is there to keep a player on the team that drafted them. Give the player more money than they can get on the open market so not everyone bolts for better markets after their rookie deal. Setting a precedent now, watch Zion sign his 5 year max and then demand out the following year. Say goodbye to the 5 year max deal and extra % raise increases. The union isn’t dumb.
He’s losing his leverage by not trying in practices.
Rivers and Morey are 100000x worse for the 76ers than Ben Simmons (holdout or not) is.
@Todd
Rivers has issues but he IS a good coach and most of his players would agree.
Anyone who takes Simmons side doesn’t know basketball. 34.2% FT. lowest ever. did not take a shot for 4 straight games in the 4th quarter. has not improved one aspect of his offensive game in 5 years.
What does that have to do with anything? “Taking his side” means thinking the Sixers should trade him, which means saying he’s not as good as Daryl Morey is valuing him in trades. Which is pretty much what you said.
It’s not about taking sides. He doesn’t wanna lose money, you can’t tell a grown man how to eat
Sure you can tell a grown man how to eat. Doctors and wives do it all the time.
^winner.
@Joey
when the “grown man” is under contract that allows him to eat the best thing imaginable and not even care about the bill then he has sn obligation to be a professional.
Well if the fans reaction at a recent wrestling event in Philly is any indication it’s gonna be ugly for him , I can’t repeat what they chanted about him . Philly is a tough town and If Ben doesn’t wanna play there anymore just trade him alresdy . But I get it he has value but I don’t know long they can continue like this .
He’s never going to suit up for them again. I just can’t see it happening.
Quote from longtime Eagle Jason Kelce ““I think it’s pretty f***ing easy, to be honest with you,” Kelce said Thursday. “You just have to go out there and play hard. You want to be loved in the city as a baseball player? Run to first base. They’re gonna f***ing love you.”
“We talking about practice, man.”
omg how did you come up with that???? so funny and original!!!!!! do you work for hollywood? do you know tim allen?????
Tim Allen?? Plus one for such a random celeb to pick.
Tim Allen is actually a pretty huge star (Toy Story, ever heard of it?) so don’t you dare call him “random”. Who would you pick Timothy Charlamane?
He is a huge star bro. Its 1997 right? Get some of that JTT, and Galaxy Quest bro…
Wow I guess you never heard of Last Man Standing good for you
Just swap him for the other cancer in the league and hope for the best. Simmons for Kyrie straight up.
Or just kick them both out of the NBA for life and get rid of cancer altogether.
That’s probably the best for both teams at this point. On the court, at least on paper, it should work very well. Off the court is another issue. Do we even know for certain that Ben is vaccinated?
Except Kyrie is very clear he won’t play for Philly. And Durant is very clear he wants Kyrie on the Nets.
I’m not sure that’s a definite and it’s unlikely that trade will happen, but, if it did, it would be the first time one #1 overall pick born in Melbourne, Australia was traded for another one.
It’s also very clear that Kyrie really can’t do anything about it. He was told to stay home. He can also be told that he’s been traded. And while KD may not like it, I doubt he’ll risk his reputation and brand for Kyrie.
Question is, anyone willing to roll the dice on him?
@Seam
How has Kyrie been clear he won’t play for Philly? he has said nothing about it and made it clear he has no intention on retiring. playing for Philly allows him to play fulltime. And Durant has made it clear that while he loves Kyrie and wants him back he has to consider the rest of the team and what they are trying to do. win a chip.
Why the league does not intervine on this? The union? This is detrimental to his teammates and mostly to fan whom at the end of the day are the ones paying tickets. It’s just a sad joke with some of these players, unprofessional too…
Daryl Morey has literally had months to trade him, it’s 100% his fault.
Yup. He blew his opportunity out of stubbornness and pride.
It’s a pattern in major pro sports. Had Houston traded Deshaun Watson once he requested it, the Texans would have gotten a good deal. 22+ sexual assault claims later, they’re still holding on to him but not playing him because they won’t let other teams make the draft picks conditional. It’s not the same situation here, but the analogy holds for both Ben and Kyrie.
100% agree. Morey dug in on his ask and rival GMs called his bluff. Now instead of folding he wants to keep playing the game. He looks foolish here.
I don’t blame Ben one bit for wanting out.
@Marty
it’s his fault that he doesn’t want to trade a player whos currently under contract for the next 4 years because he’s throwing a tantrum and the he finds the offers he’s received to be in adequate??? again, player under contract. get real bro.
Good for him! I would probably do the same thing in his situation. I wouldn’t give a darn about my level of participation either as long as my checks kept coming
If Im BS I shoot only 3s and take every shot never pass.
Oh man, that would be hilarious.
That says a lot about you as a person.
Hey they said they wanted more 3s, so give the people what they want. Pull ups, catch and shoots, heaves thats all Im doing.
I couldn’t do that to my teammates who wouldn’t deserve the unnecessary drama. So I would play, but I wouldn’t mind taking shots at Doc and Morey through the media every chance I would get. They deserve it.
The situation sounds toxic and unrepairable. They need to move Simmons and cut their losses.
Well. This is a surprise! Who could have seen this coming?! Whew…
I assume sarcasm here, but in reality Stevie Wonder could have seen this one coming.
Ya… sarcasm for sure.
Ben was practicing with his cell phone in his pocket and didn’t even attempt to raise his hand, let alone point it in the direction of the huddle, just stood off in the background as the team did their group chant lol
This is funny, its not detrimental to the NBA. You know who’s detrimental to the NBA? Daryl Morey.
Told ya. He has no intention of playing in PHI ever again.
OK GMs. Give us your best offer. It’s time….
So overrated
Absolutely. Some of these players just care about their money and nothing else. No sense of professionalism or be committed to the sports rather than a written contract with a significant amount of money attached to it. Very sad…
If he wants to be treated like a professional
he might want to start acting like one. The other players on the team aren’t buying his juvenile feeling sorry for himself attitude.
They took a huge s*** all over him after the playoffs, then shopped him, but because after all that he said Im done trade me he is the bad guy. If they dont want him they should move him, not Simmons fault Morey has no concept of his value.
He’s the bad guy for not even bothering to improve his game. He’s had glaring weaknesses in his game and instead of improving them, they’ve gotten worse. Dude should have been thrown under the bus because he deserved it with his awful play and attitude. And if he was a professional, he’d know he deserved all of that criticism.
Coaches and teams don’t just call out one of their best players in the media on a whim. They see him every day in practice and know who they’re calling out. Some players would take it as motivation.
Dude im sure he has tried. Sometimes more work doesnt lead to better results. I mean Shaq cant shoot. They knew he couldnt shoot, and signed him. I think he may have gone about fixing his shot wrong, but he worked on it every summer to no avail.
Brook Lopez went from a guy who took 31 threes total in his first eight seasons to taking hundreds a year at a 34% clip. If a big, slow center can do that, Simmons can be asked to improve even slightly. But he hasn’t. He’s gotten worse. As a rookie, 78.7% of his attempts were within 10′ of the basket. That number was 91.0% last year with only a marginal increase in overall shooting percentage. If he’s actually trying like you say, that effort is definitely not showing up on the court.
And I don’t understand what ‘sometimes more work doesn’t lead to better results’ means. It sounds like an excuse.
Also, Shaq didn’t need to make free throws to be one of the most dominant players of all time who excelled in the postseason.
It could be mental, it could be stubbornness, it could be physical. Every armchair Hooper is sure they can solve it, but sometimes dudes shot is just broke and thats all there is. You dont think every one of the NBA prospects that could never get a shot didnt try. Some people can shoot like Curry others cant.
Regardless of the issue, the main point of this thread is that it is on Simmons to both improve and to act professional. He’s done neither, and the reports today are that he refused to participate in drills in practice and was then justifiably booted. Hard to not blame Simmons for that.
Wow! This is unfolding about as badly as a Philly fan could fear. I had hope that they would work things out, temporarily or even long term…I don’t see a good outcome, for us (meaning Philly) no matter how this unfolds from here. We will see, but we have a massive ball handling and facilitating hole without him not to mention his defensive versatility. For all of the complaints about him we have many more holes that are obvious without him. We have no facilitating PG, no savvy ball handler…that is hard to replace, and we ain’t got it.
Just trade Embiid and start the process over again (lol)
I’m sure everything will be fine tomorrow
Thank you for the co-dependent viewpoint.
Ha!
They wanted him back. Be careful what you wish for. Who didn’t see this coming. Previously he was a distraction away from the team now he’s a present distraction. Nice move Philly. You obviously know what you’re doing.
Ben Simmons, the gift that keeps giving. Brilliant.
Personally I don’t see why any team would want him he can’t shoot and he’s a selfish azz who’s to say he won’t do this to the next team
1. The 76ers did not s*** all over Ben. Anyone who knows anything about basketball could come to the obvious conclusion about Ben. Fans didn’t need Doc to tell them Philly probably isn’t winning a championship with Ben.
2. Ben does not have much leverage. If he acts up in practice or games he will get suspended and then the 76ers don’t have to pay him. He would be foolish to not try unless he really doesn’t care about money. Plus if he wants out of there so bad he should raise his value so teams will actually want to trade for him.
3. This is not a defense of Doc or Morey.
4. Ben for Kyrie is the most obvious of all obvious trades. Kyrie isn’t allowed to play in New York but Philadelphia doesn’t have those same restrictions. Brooklyn already has shooters/offensive talents in Harden, Harris and Durant. Ben gives them a good ball handler, passer and elite defender. Kyrie is a defensive liability. No one else is going to give Brooklyn or Philly fair market value given the situations with both players.
1. No matter what media and fans say you dont treat your teamates that you have a personal relationship with that way publicly if you expect to continue having a good working relationship.
2. He can play poorly and they wont be able to suspend him. Harden didnt act up he just was fat and trash. They can play him or not if he doesnt break other rules they cant suspend him.
3. Could have gotten something somewhat reasonable before the draft when teams had flexibility and FA options. Doc dragged his own player, and Morey asked for the return from like 3 years ago without ever recalibrating.
4. No team can truly trust KI will show up and play if traded. Philly could have its own mandate come winter if cases spike. KD may not want BS over KI even if its like this.
As a Nets’ fan, I would like to see that trade considering the way things are going, but I’m not certain Ben Simmons is vaccinated either. The way he returned to the Sixers implies he isn’t, but his appearance in the crowd at Wimbledon implies that he had to be. If he hasn’t, I think he’d be more inclined to do it since his issue is that he wants out of Philly. Kyrie is focused on the principle of it and is not about to budge.
“Fat and trash”?
In the 8 games prior to the trade he averaged 24.8 points and 10.4 assists per.
If that’s trash than you must have pretty high expectations :-)
In a perfect world, Simmons, Morey and Doc would stay together until the end of time. They all deserve each other in the worst way.
Honestly, this is more on Philly than it is on Ben. After being scapegoated as the reason the sixers lost to the Hawks (because Philly has such a winning tradition, right?), Ben made it PERFECTLY clear that he did not want to be there. He gave Philly ample time to make a trade and move him. They got decent offers, which kept getting worse as this debacle snowballed. The fact of the matter is, however, that Darryl did not do right by Ben Simmons. He did not seek an actual trade in good faith, with reports of ridiculous asks such as OG, Fred van Vleet, Siakam, AND the 4th overall pick from the Raptors.
Then, they decide to basically extort him to show up to practice, which he does. And then they keep fining him, and suspend him.
My biggest takeaways here are, a) where the HELL is Rich Paul, and why is he allowing this organization to trash his client like this without firing back, and, b) Darryl Morey is one of the most overrated GMs in all of sports. He could never take that Houston team over the top, and he has acted like a complete imbecile in his handling of this Ben Simmons situation. Holding out for a Dame trade, while expecting a disgruntled player to show up and invest 100% while Darryl sits on his fat ass and waits for a “star” to appear on the trade market, I just don’t understand how Philly thought this could or would ever be tenable. Also, assuming that any team dealing a star would automatically value Phillys (probably low ball) offer as the best offer, is just asinine on Darryl Moreys part. Ben has basically ZERO trade value left. This is hurting him, and the franchise as well. This can’t be healthy for Ben or anybody else on that team, and in that locker room. The trade offers have gotten continually worse, and this is absolutely on Philly. They should’ve traded him during the summer. Darryl’s handling of this situation has been criminal, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the NBA step in here and force a resolution.
In the end, this is just another episode of Philly being Philly. Was Ben terrible vs the Hawks? Sure he was. Is Philly a perpetually under-performing team that always finds a way to lose, regardless of sport?? Absolutely. Philly fans, their coach, and best player scape goating Ben and acting like he was the ONLY reason why they got their butts kicked by Atlanta, is typical of Philly. They don’t deserve anything good to be honest, and when they do get something good, they drive them away with their toxic behavior. I just don’t think Philly deserves this pass that they’ve seemingly been getting throughout this debacle.
Philly, and more specifically Darryl Morey, take notes from actual professional organizations such as the Toronto Raptors, on how to deal with players in a professional manner. Philadelphia has been Bush league in their handling of this situation from day 1. Fining, and now suspending. They come across as petty. Players around the league will take notice of this, and although nobody wanted to play in Philly before, it’ll be 10x worse now. You can thank your overrated GM/president/whatever he is for that.
“Just another episode of Philly being Philly”. You have zero clue about the city and the fan base here. Zero
What players have we driven away with “toxic behavior”? Eric Lindros? JD Drew? Carson Wentz? Stop
Go ask players like Allen Iverson, Brian Dawkins, Zach Ertz, Joel Embiid, Jason Kelce, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Bryce Harper what’s it’s like to play in this town.
We cheer and boo you just the same because we want to see the best.
Ben Simmons was too short sighted and too caught up in his own shortcomings to understand. He wasn’t the only reason the Sixers lost but he damn sure was a major one. Becoming a complete liability and putting up the worst free throw percentage in playoff history.
And he’s done playing with Joel Embiid? Makes sense. Wouldn’t want to play with a guy who played 7 games on a torn meniscus and averaged 30/10 while you were terrified to shoot.
Are the sixers at fault here too? Absolutely. Shouldn’t have come to this. But there also comes a time for a person to put their big boy pants on, show up and do what’s expected. But please don’t say the fans “deserve” this.
Reasonable minds can differ on who is primarily responsible for this mess. One thing for certain though Ben Simmons is about to learn what it means to be all alone. The city of brotherly love is well known for its ability to demonstrate hate in a real, visceral way and he alienated all his teammates. He’s gonna get booed to hell on the court, s#&t on in the streets and cold-shouldered in the locker room.
Reality TV at its worst (ie, finest). Bring on the drama!
Simmons was treated poorly by either Doc or Embiid, and has every right to request a trade. Unfortunately he and Morey escalated the situation. Everybody is in the wrong.
Treated poorly? Either Simmons shoots poorly or makes poor decisions.
Plus, what did he do all off season? Nothing from what I understand
Simmons Sux!
Good for Embiid. He’s right. It’s not his job to babysit this guy.
If Simmons is a baby, juvenile, unprofessional, hasn’t improved his game etc. in what world do the Sixers and their supporters think their getting back a star in a trade? Delusional and can’t have it both ways either he’s trash or not.
#FreeBenSimmons
from what? being a huge jerk?