The Sixers continue to penalize Ben Simmons for a failure to participate in team-related activities, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link), who reports that Philadelphia is fining the three-time All-Star for not joining the team on its current six-game road trip.
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, confirming Charania’s report, notes that Simmons will lose $2.16MM in game checks alone, assuming the Sixers fine him for missing all six games on the road trip. That number would increase if he receives additional fines for missing practices, meetings, and other team activities.
Simmons and the Sixers remain at odds over his status. He has told the club he’s not mentally ready to play and reportedly believes Philadelphia is trying to force him back onto the court. The 76ers have maintained that, even if he’s not yet ready to play, the 25-year-old should be preparing to return to action by participating in practices, shootarounds, and other team activities, unless mental health experts say he’s unable to do so.
Simmons’ maximum-salary contract would typically pay him $33MM+ this season, but he has already lost a chunk of that salary — each time the Sixers have fined him for missing a game, it has cost him 1/91.6th of his salary, or about $360K. Given the mental health factor, I’d expect Simmons and his camp to eventually try to recoup some of that lost money via an arbitration process.
For the time being, there’s no end to the standoff in sight.
Pocket change
Morey wanted Dame. Dame waited till after the FA frenzy to decide for sure to stay. Morey couldnt negotiate once every other team had a full roster of freshly signed players, and nobody worth a rotation spot left on the FA market. Morey started being a d*** to Ben because he was the only non scrub player he could get all of a sudden, since we all know the offers didnt get better after Aug 15th…
So he could have bit the bullet and done CJ for Ben or something, but wouldnt and instead decided to do this instead. This seems like in no small portion Morey is acting out because he is embarrassed after his laughable trade offers were made public. What other reason is there for all the public comments and denigration we have seen from him and the rest of the 6ers, when it only makes his trade value worse?
Good
This is worse than the Aaron rodgers watch that happened before the NFL season
Jack Eichel 2.0
The team must believe he’s faking it, which is pretty shameful of Ben. This is why no one takes mental health seriously.
“no one takes mental health seriously”
That’s good to know. Thanks for the info.
See, sarcasm.
Rarely do I side with ownership over a player but Ben is being an Instagram-diva, who is more concerned with his social media engagement numbers related to his “brand” then he is his actual job.
He is doing those who deal with mental issues a major disservice. If he gets traded for peanuts, the NBA will lose fans because it essentially shows contracts are meaningless and you can cry your way out of town regardless of its status. He has no shame. He’s been coddled his entire life and when he has to overcome an obstacle (shooting the basketball) in life, he turns into a coward and is attempting to cry his way out of town, while hiding behind his soulless agent. His issue may be an extreme case of the yips but how this has been handled his been through the acts of a childish brat, surrounded by “yes men”.
Philly has Andrew Bynum 2.0 on their hands and say what you will, this must be addressed by owners in the next CBA or the collective fanbase will transition to fair-weather, centered around nothing but fashion statements.
@Brenton
“Soulless agent”? You just explained how Ben is at fault and more concerned about off field. Agents do the bidding if their clients. Paul may not agree with him but he has two outings. Do as he’s instructed by client or drop the client. soulless seems excessive.
Fair point. All agents are soulless. Better? :o)
@Brenton
I used to feel that way until I became a music agent and could see things from their perspective. Sometimes we have to be the messenger of bad news. But if you realize, we dontr want to do anything that wastes time or losses money. Paul wants nothing to do with a player already under contract for 4 more years. He’d rather focus on upcoming free agents and draft class.
So if someone were actually stupid enough to trade for Ben Simmons, would his alleged mental illness suddenly vanish?
I wouldn’t call it stupid if the Nets traded Kyrie for him, but I highly doubt that would happen.
Actually trading one ‘mentally unsound’ player for another is kind of crazy. (See what I did there?)
Probably. Stubbornness is usually cured when the individual gets what they want.
I’m pretty sure Ben’s issues are, so to speak, ‘Philly-related’ so more thank likely yes.
Neither Simmons or his camp said anything about mental health during the entire off-season. They demanded a trade because Ben felt slighted after the playoffs. When a trade didn’t materialize, Ben sat out of training camp believing the 76ers would pay him anyway. When they put his money is escrow, he still didn’t say anything about mental health but reported to the 76ers. When he caused trouble during workouts and was suspended and fines, he said his back hurt. The following day, you hear him say he is not “mentally” ready to play – not that he is suffering from a mental illness. There is a distinction. He refused to provide medical records or share information or see a team therapist. He only cooperated when the 76ers fined him. Simmons seems to be a guy who is manipulating the collective bargaining agreement to get paid while he tries to force a trade. He has been completely noncooperative every step of the way. I applaud the 76ers for their professionalism in holding Simmons accountable.
Right—the fact his mental illness only became apparent when it became clear he wouldn’t get paid makes one raise an eyebrow
It became apparent when they tried to force him to play in front of a fanbase that hates him and a team he feels betrayed him and hung him out to dry. It also seemed like they were very motivated to trade him the day after they got bumped in the playoffs, and so he probably spent the summer thinking he would not be in this situation.
THE BEN SIMMONS SITUATION WOULD GIVE ANYONE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS! Facing the team and fans after everything would be super mentally challenging. Team could just say stay home till we trade you, which would get the story to go away completely, since really do you want to mess with your chemistry bringing him back in?
Hold on … does typing it in capital letters make it true? Empirically speaking it’s not hard to disprove: there are a litany of holdouts/extremely awkward sporting situations that many a superstar have gone thru (Harden last year, Pippen’s hold out, etc etc) and not endured mental illness, but I’ll leave that to the side for a second and talk pragmatics.
The case as I see it:
1) Ben wants out
2) Philly (now if not before) also wants him out
3) If Philly could get a star player in return they would do it ASAP
4) Ipso facto Simmons’ current market value is less than a star
Conclusion: Given Simmons’ value is less than a star one of two things need to occur.
A) Philly takes less than star value in return for Simmons
B) Simmons’ value returns to the level where Philly can a acquire a star in return for him.
(A) will never happen because for Morey to take nickels on the dollar for Simmons makes Philly a non-contender, leads to Embiid most likely wanting out sooner than later, and his entire tenure in Philly becoming a disaster.
(B) to take a page from your book REQUIRES BEN SIMMONS TO PLAY BASKETBALL. His stock is down because he had a horrible playoffs and has refused to play since.
Philly loses either way if they sit him or trade him for scraps. If Ben comes back and proves he’s the same guy he was the last (4) regular seasons everyone in this situation is put out of their misery.
Uh. This post appears to be of sound judgment and logical/ common sense to be placed on this thread. We may have to flag you…
His stock has very little to do with the playoffs actually. That hurt it some sure, but we all know he wasnt a shooter, his FT rate should return to career numbers, and sports psychologists could help with confidence driving. Also he was never a perfect fit with the lineups they run, and could benefit from more spacing for sure. He is a great small ball 5.
What has really hurt his value is that Morey made this all super public going on the radio and stuff. Ben Simmons is now a distressed asset. Nobody is paying full price when they know Phil cant wait 4 years, hell they cant wait one without pissing off Embiid, and all 29 other GMs know what situation Morey is in. His only bailout Is someone like Beal shaking loose, or a team like the Kings panicking and over paying. Otherwise there are very limited possibilities who match salary and would get moved.
Package 1) All prospects and junk salary to match.
Package 2) Mostly role players who could help the 6ers rotation with some draft capitol(this is by far the most likely before next June).
Package 3) A star of equal calibre to Simmons who also happens to make nearly the same money.
All Morey wants is package 3 but guess what nobody is shipping out a player he thinks is good enough. None of those players are even available right now, and your basically waiting for the next star to demand out which almost for sure wont happen till the offseason since thats when guys usually make a request entering the final year. I dont think Embiid will appreciate nothing for these playoffs.
Simmons raising his value hurts his future teams assets so for him he is not incentivized to raise his value. If he is willing to eat whatever money he has to to do it he can wait Morey out.
I think there were 3 very reasonable offers for him out of Indy, TOR and Portland.
Philly could have Brogdon and Turner or Pascal or CJ. I don’t think draft comp even needs to be added, Philly isn’t landing a star, these are fair offers.
This is professional sports not a knitting club. If you sign a big fat contract that sets you and your family up for the next 10 generations why are the Sixers at fault for asking him to honor his contract until a trade can be made? If you or I were asked by our employer to improve on a known weakness and then we turned around and said no we would likely be fired on the spot. If we did not get fired but then turned around and told then that because of that criticism I no longer want to work here so until I find a new job, I am gonna stay home and relax with the expectation that you pay me my full salary. Then when your employer balks at that and says we agree it is not a good fit but until you find a new job, if you want to get paid, you need to show up and work. First off how many employers even agree to let you continue to work and collect a paycheck after a situation like that? Not many,rest assured. So then, after this has all gone down, you say you have a mental health issue. Given the chain of events that took place, do you think you would even have a leg to stand on in a court of law with this kind of scenario? Especially if you do not even provide one shred of evidence that you are being treated for something? Given how everything went down, do you think an employer is just gonna take your word that you are being treated for something? I mean come on now…This is so out of hand. The average Joe who lives paycheck to paycheck would be held more accountable then this guy making hundreds of millions if dollars to play a kids game. He is not a heart surgeon or first responder or soldier protecting the country, he is living a life we can only dream of and he will not honor a massive contract to play a game for a living. How soft and pampered have we become in this world?
Well said. Pretty tired of this hurt feelings, mental health nonsense that is all of a sudden so trendy when things don’t go your way. These people need to spend some time in the military. The phrase “suck it up, butter cup” comes to mind.
What exactly made them seem “very motivated” to trade him? Was it by asking for returns that nobody would agree to?
There’s a difference between being willing to listen to offers and being motivated to deal.
PHI as always proving that they are the most dastardly evil organization in sports, I mean how soulless can they be, if the dude ain’t mentally ready to play, why on earth must he be going around the whole country with his team, anyone who hasn’t the low IQ that PHI has would know it pays off for him to stay home & get treatment… alas that is way beyond the capabilities of anyone living in PHI to understand, such a shame, the league must expel PHI from the league for the damage they are doing to the image of the league & the distress they are causing to Ben!
He doesn’t have mental issues, he is pouting because he didn’t get traded like he wanted. Philly is totally in the right by not paying an employee who refuses to work.
@ted- you’re far from the only person that’s said it, but how do you know he doesn’t have mental issues? You don’t. People point to the timing- but isn’t it possible he thought he’d be traded earlier so there weren’t issues? As the report date got closer, then so did the stress and the issues surrounding having to report?
To me, this makes the Sixers look petty. They’re largely the villains here if someone has to be one. They’ve let the world know how they feel about Ben, and yet they still want to be compensated as if they’re trading Jordan in his prime to move him? Lol.
It doesn’t work that way.
Well the only way to raise his stock so the team can get the return they are looking for is to play. Sometimes you screw up at work and have to go back and deal with the consequences. It’s called being an adult.
Is Don being sarcastic here? I sincerely hope so, but there seems to be so many others on Team Ben who apparently feel this way.
If he does then making him leave the area the therapists are in to travel for no purpose when he wont be playing or suiting up is sooooooo pointless. I mean if they want him to practice the team facilities are the best option.
Klay and Wiseman arent on GSWs road trip because they are rehabbing in the bay, since that happens all the time with players that are out.
I think you missed the whole situation. He didnt get traded like they wanted! PHI brass do not want BS they just want a return thats not on the table. So he knows they want to deal him, but wont take whats offered. His teammates dont want him back, home fans hate him, and the only reason he is still there is that Dame has yet to request a trade, but might sometime soonish, or so Morey thinks.
But he’s mentally fit to cash those paychecks huh? Lol
You really think hes not getting direct deposit?
Have him or his reps publicly mentioned the checks, or filed a grievance against the 6ers for the recent fines?
The NBAPA will have something to say about it, and will force a grievance because they wont want to let this set a precedent, and when you have a bargained for right you make sure to not let the other side break it for any reason.
You can’t be serious. Do you live in a bubble? Have you followed the whole story? Dude can’t have his cake and eat it too.
#FreeBenSimmons
He’s a cry baby diva.
just trade the dude… it’s just lowering your team morale, at this point I’d take Hield and a 1st from the Kings instead of having Simmons just do nothing
Then Simmons wins and any player can sit out their contract going forward.
While I’m all about player free movement, if any star can sit out a contract and tank their value, then competitiveness of the league suffers.
I’m all for continuing to fine Simmons. The next 4 years, really.
Doc and Embiid trashed him to the media post playoffs. Do we really think anything close to this will happen any time soon?
He was already being shopped pre draft, and pre trade request. The team walked him out the door, got turned down on all the ludicrous offers they asked for, and then tried to walk him back into the toxic situation they and his teammates and coach created.
LOL. Doc didn’t trash him in the media. Is saying “I don’t know” to a question of whether he can be a PG of a championship team ideal? No. Is it trashing him and you can’t work with him again? Also no. Win a championship and the. You can say F you to Doc during the title post-game press conference if you want.
Toxic situation? That is way too far to describe the situation. He was given every chance to reintegrate before the season started. Embiid never said before the season he wouldn’t play with Simmons again. Play at least your normal high level game and there wouldn’t be any issues. Aside from not having any jumpshot, obviously. If you play terribly…I mean, that is on the player, right?
JBH…. It’s still not the right thing to say.
After the PHI/ATL series, are you saying it would be ok if reporters asked Ben can the Sixers win a championship with Doc Rivers as coach, and Ben replies (in disgust), “I don’t know…
I don’t know.” ???
Hell no, that wouldn’t be right.
If im the 76ers ill take Hield and a 1st, the team enviroment will improve a ton, and Hield will fit well with their rotation.
Hield will fit well but the 76ers title chances will be hurt.
Simmons, at his best, while not a good fit with Embiid, is a better player than Hield.
A Kings first will be back end of lottery, at best, and could be lottery protected. So not much of a game changer.
Embiid, Hield, Harris, and Seth Curry doesn’t seem quite a title team to me.
I agree that they wouldn’t be a title contender, but I don’t see the 76ers getting much more value right now…
Morey is waintg till December when more players become available, and maybe get a better package.
So why not save all the drama and nonsense and just have hi sit home till Dec 15th? They dont even get cap relief from the fines, so this is all petty and pointless.
Morey wanted Dame. Dame waited till after the FA frenzy to decide for sure to stay. Morey couldnt negotiate once every other team had a full roster of freshly signed players, and nobody worth a rotation spot left on the FA market. Morey started being a dick to Ben because he was the only non scrub player he could get all of a sudden, since we all know the offers didnt get better after Aug 15th…
I almost wish Ben would come out and say take my 33m, I’ll file a grievance and we’ll see how it ends.
And I hope the Sixers have to pay him every last dime of it.
If Simmons can just sit out all year and say “mental health”, then any player can cite that after becoming disgruntled with their team and that will hurt the competitiveness of the league.
I’m all for player movement but the reason you have a salary cap and guaranteed contracts is, besides guaranteeing money to players, attempting to balance competitiveness of the league. Trades are an imperfect part of that. Any player that can just tank their value or walk away while a team has to pay them hurts the competitiveness of the league.
I understand the competitiveness of the league is important, but what about a man’s mental well-being too? It’s not an easy situation to navigate, I’ll give you.
Philly clearly doesn’t want Ben, though. The coach has hinted at it and so has Joel. They don’t care about this guy. They just want a treasure trove of assets they believe they can parlay him into. That’s why I feel how I feel.
They should’ve supported him more or traded him sooner. They chose a rocky path littered with pitfalls. Well, now you can’t walk it back. Do the right thing for everyone and trade the man. Stop being stubborn.
Trade him for what? Who wants this clown on their roster? The league knows what he is doing or they would have stepped in already. His agent is a fraud.
Why? He signed a contract to play for them. He’s not holding up his end.
When he signed that contract, he couldn’t have imagined the coach, teammates, and org would scapegoat him and damage his brand. They aren’t holding up their end of the deal, either
Brand? Come on Jer.Bear. Really?
Cripes, they demoted him, left him exposed. He’s not a 4. Workers often quit following demotion, even more if it’s only missing a promotion.
He can quit. Employees who quit don’t get paid by their previous employer though. So he’d be saying bye to his millions and have to settle for a lesser contract somewhere else.
Keep the fines coming. Whole situation sets a bad precedent for the rest of the league anyway. As a fan, you should want this dude crucified because your favorite player on your team could be the next one to pull this ish. Kawhi, AD, Harden all contributed to where we are now. Amex is going to lose so much money moving forward on that Jersey guarantee thing.
Have to respect Dame and Beal sticking by their trash teams. Wizards are in 1sts, yes I know, for now. Playoffs are in the summer and I expect them to be in the play-in at best.
Idea behind the max is you get your guy for 9 years. Dude wants to jump ship after 1 year in his max, because he wont do the most fundamental aspect of basketball, and the fanbase, teammates, and coaches called him out on it.
Ha! AMEX would be losing money if anyone actually bought a Ben Jersey but no self-respecting fan of the Sixers would do that. He’s not a Philly guy. that Jersey is on discount in the NBA store already. it’s worthless.
Finally Luke volunteers some factual data. Sports media seems to be sitting on their hands on the money movement, but get big participation on the controversy.
Losing $360k of his $33mil salary per game, adds up to fines=salary. He is not playing for free basically. I do not see the ripoff. Sixers will not owe his salary this year, a big savings. Maybe it ruins a prime year of Embiid. A 2022 FA could have been making that Simmons capspace, but the FO does not seem to want to do without him.
Contracting has become more & more complicated, but contracts are still for chumps. Not the favorite of judges.
I meant, he IS playing for free basically.
The first thing a judge does, is tell the sides to figure it out on their own.
Not one of the commenters here can analyze Simmons and say he doesn’t have a mental problem holding him back. It’s obvious he isn’t ready to play for the 76ers mentally or he would indeed be playing for the 76ers.
The problem is that in general we do not mental illness seriously. If some other player in the league had a physical ailment that kept them away from playing a team activities then they get paid so what’s the difference here?
Personally I think Simmons is arrogant, overrated and overvalued but yet I’m on his side. It’s B.S. that they’re holding onto him when he isn’t helping the team in any way shape or form. Yes Simmons signed a contract but the 76ers signed the same contract. I’m pretty sure it says they have to pay him whether he’s injured or not. They need to pay him or trade him!
@Tacocat1331… That is such a good point you making my friend!
Fans always see the obligations of the players, they think their teams are just so wonderful all the time & do no wrong!
That has always been the issue with mental health, a broken leg you see, depression you don’t… people just say snap out of it, SMH!
A broken leg ain’t a problem in sports but a broken mind that really is a serious issue that can end a career, wish so called fans weren’t so flippant & they would care more for humans than they do for abstract concepts, also known as franchises!
@Tacoat @ElDon
maybe his claim of mental instability would be taken more serious had he…ummm… said that was the issue upfront? He CLEARLY suggested he didn’t want to play in Philly but was MORRRRRRRE than willing to play ANNNNNNYWHERE else. Then he claimed it was his back. Then once they started fining him vs trading him thrn he chose to claim mental health. Sorry. It begs skepticism. And honestly, being strong mentally to perform in front of a crowd sort of is a HUGE part of being a professional athlete. Not sure if you belong in the NBA if that’s a legit problem.
“I’m pretty sure he just needs a ride to the airport.”
He has to prove he’s injured/suffers from mental health. That’s the whole dispute. Ben doesn’t wanna meet the doctor that will give him a mental health certificate that will allow him to be paid. It means he’s not actually suffering from mental health, otherwise he’d see that doctor straight away and get paid.
Who Cares ……… YAWN YAWN
Ben Simmons >>>>> to Nets
>>>> For >>>>
Kyrie Irving >>>>> to Sixers
Best Trade Ever ….. Wake Up NBA
Let him sit, don’t pay him, force him to either submit to psych testing or go to court and prove he is disabled. Call his bluff. A baby who showed his true nature when he refused to play in NCAA tournament to avoid risking his top NBA pick status.
If he really has mental health issues, he can reveal the nature of them. Worst case, he has the yips, which did not keep Jon Lester from fulfilling his obligations as a team mate.
Like Kyrie, just a bad team mate, period.
This is professional sports not a knitting club. If you sign a big fat contract that sets you and your family up for the next 10 generations why are the Sixers at fault for asking him to honor his contract until a trade can be made? If you or I were asked by our employer to improve on a known weakness and then we turned around and said no we would likely be fired on the spot. If we did not get fired but then turned around and told then that because of that criticism I no longer want to work here so until I find a new job, I am gonna stay home and relax with the expectation that you pay me my full salary. Then when your employer balks at that and says we agree it is not a good fit but until you find a new job, if you want to get paid, you need to show up and work. First off how many employers even agree to let you continue to work and collect a paycheck after a situation like that? Not many,rest assured. So then, after this has all gone down, you say you have a mental health issue. Given the chain of events that took place, do you think you would even have a leg to stand on in a court of law with this kind of scenario? Especially if you do not even provide one shred of evidence that you are being treated for something? Given how everything went down, do you think an employer is just gonna take your word that you are being treated for something? I mean come on now…This is so out of hand. The average Joe who lives paycheck to paycheck would be held more accountable then this guy making hundreds of millions if dollars to play a kids game. He is not a heart surgeon or first responder or soldier protecting the country, he is living a life we can only dream of and he will not honor a massive contract to play a game for a living. How soft and pampered have we become in this world?
More is expected out of the average Joe then someone making hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game. I guess that is where we are now…
So you think that a first responder, heart surgeon or someone who gets paid to kill people are more important jobs,.. interesting viewpoint… ?!?!?
They’re not really fining him,they’re just not paying him to not show up.
And as a player that’s as good as gone,why shouldn’t they recoup as much salary as they can.