4:32pm: Simmons has met with team doctors to treat a back ailment, but hasn’t been willing to discuss his mental readiness with the club’s doctors, according to a full report from Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN. He has also engaged with teammates and members of the coaching staff in one-on-one situations at the practice facility, but it’s unclear if or when he’ll rejoin full team activities.
Sources close to Simmons tell ESPN that they expect to provide updates to the Sixers once the 25-year-old is comfortable doing so.
4:03pm: There is “frustration mounting” within the Sixers over Ben Simmons‘ unwillingness to keep the team apprised of his status, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne told colleague Malika Andrews today during a TV appearance (video link).
When Simmons told the team on October 22 that he wasn’t mentally ready to play, the Sixers stopped fining him for missing practices and games and offered him any off-court resources he needed to work through the situation. However, according to Shelburne, Simmons hasn’t been accepting any of the help or resources the club has made available.
Shelburne hears that Simmons has been working with mental health professionals through the National Basketball Players Association, but “hasn’t really kept the team in the loop” on the work he’s doing or progress he’s making. Besides not sharing any updates with the 76ers, Simmons also hasn’t resumed practicing with the club, having only conducted individual workouts.
There’s “no timeline” for Simmons’ return to practices or games, according to Shelburne.
Given that Simmons wasn’t in contact with the Sixers for months during the offseason, Shelburne’s update doesn’t come as a major surprise. Simmons’ actions don’t mean his claim that he’s not mentally prepared to play wasn’t made in good faith, but there was never any real indication that he’d reversed course on his desire to not play another game as a Sixer.
Team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has stated that he won’t be rushed into making a Simmons trade before he gets an offer he likes. And while Morey’s claim that it “could take four years” was certainly an exaggeration, it seems unlikely that any deal will happen until at least December 15, when more players around the league become trade-eligible. If Simmons maintains radio silence in the coming days and weeks, the Sixers will have to decide just how much space they’re willing to give him.
Time for the Philly fans to start spewing hateful comments… I wonder why Simmons is not mentally prepared to play. Maybe more threats and insults will clear this up…
Is chanting ‘we want Lillard’ a proof of hate ?
Is wanting a guy to show up and do his job proof of hate?
He showed up & did his job so well that he was repeatedly singled out as 1 of the best that is currently doing said job. It wasn’t enough, he was still hated on not only by the fan base but by his own coach. Now Philly won’t ever have to worry about him again. They should have traded him months ago. Ben is good either way tho, it’s the team that’s suffering
Right, because Ben’s doing great things for his career right now by sitting out and refusing to play. The perception of him as a player in the NBA has never been worse after his horrible performance in the playoffs last season. And now the perception he’s giving to everyone off the court is even worse since he’s refusing to play or even keep his team apprised of his situation. Sure, he’s good either way.
And the Sixers are really suffering without him right now at 5-2?
The perception of Ben Simmons as a basketball player can best be described as elite. That hasn’t changed & probably won’t change for at least the next decade. He’s also a multimillionaire many times over who has provided for his children’s children’s children by the age of 25. Yea he’s good lol
@Sankara
If you TRULY think that’s he’s elite, the use of the word is misused. You can say he IS an elite defender. So were Bruce Boeen, Sidney Monvrief and Tony Allen. Say he IS a great passer. So ate/were Tajon Rondo, Mark Jackson and Kevin Johnson. However, they were NOT elite players. Perennial MVP candidates are ELITE players. And I GUARENTEE you that the majority of professional players wouldn’t side with Ben for what he’s done. You’re buggin’. You reallllly think an MJ or Magic would side with him? You reallllly think G-League or guys bouncing around overs feel for him? Not just for the standoff but for the lack of dedication to improve his glaring weaknesses, which the Sixers overlooked anyway and gave him a bax HOPING he should grow into by improving. Yeezus.
He’s not even a great passer, he’s just an above average passer in transition and that’s only because of his height. He’s a well below average passer in half court sets and the pick and roll.
Is being the #1 pick, ROY, 3x allstar, all nba team, 2x all defense in 4 years in the NBA not enough to be elite? None of the players you listed achieved these awards so early in their career. If not elite by your definition, the trajectory is definitely on track to be elite.. as for nobody wanting a player that will shut down the other teams best scorer, I think they will…. in the end everyone wants to win.
@Sankara
Guess what, NOT shooting the ball and NOT putting in the work to improve your craft ARE part of the job. Accepting criticism, be it harsh, public or private, is part of the job. Stop the coddling of this diva already. You think Jordan, LBJ, Magic, Ali, Kareem, Brady don’t go thru worse? Jackie Robinson!!!!???? Miss me with that weak stuff.
@knicksdancavsfan Tony Allen made some critical game winning shots in the season and post season. It’s quite harsh to say he wasn’t elite in his own way. Allen was more than just a defensive player. He contributed it on the court and off the court. He made everyone one around them better in one way or another. That is like saying Steve Nash isn’t elite either. Nash was a great defender and a ok shooter with some passing skills like Tony Allen.
@Pirates
Nash was an “ok” shooter and “ok” passer???
.49%4
/43%/90% shooting is elite shooting. 8.5 apg for his career is elite passing. I think he could’ve scored more if he wanted to am he’s a legit HOF and on the cusp of being an elite HOF. No comparison to Ben.
Allen was a solid player and elite defender. he’s not an elite overall player.
@knicksfan I never said Nash was wasn’t elite player. Tony Allen had similar style to Nash. Allen made Parker and Duncan a bit better and Allen made some critical game winning shots in his day. When you have Parker and Duncan as teammates, why worry so much about scoring a ton of points? Play defense, move the ball to their hands and take a shot when you can. Allen was elite in his own way.
On Nash, he was an ok Shooter and had some passing abilities. I loved what he did with the Suns before hanging up the sneakers. I honestly feel Nash with Boston during the Big 3 of KG, Allen, and Rondo, would have been better than the trio of Shaq and Kobe and company. Rondo and Nash dropping 3s all night while KG and Allen did their thing. Nothing against that Boston team in those years, but as a Houston fan, I was wishing Nash was in the Celtics uniform.
Steve Nash literally won back to back MVPs lol get outta here
@Pirates
wrote a more precise response that wasn’t posted. long story short, Nash was like a 49/43/90 shooter. that’s elite. he probably could’ve scored more per game if he wanted, like Magic could’ve too, but that wasn’t his game. he’s not quite elite overall but a two time MVP on the border of HOF and elite HOF definitely. Ben is far from that, periodt (yes, pronounce the “t” at the end).
The team will be fine, Ben has been a disappointment, let’s stop pretending he is elite that’s not the case so please just stop… he’s a gets by during the regular season but when it matters come playoff time and the NBA game changes he’s useless… he want to play with the ball in his hand, why so he can hand it off and stand in the corner?? Afraid to shoot and now afraid to drive because he may get fouled??? Please stop with the woo is Ben stuff
Why sell low on someone everyone would jump on at that point. 76ers are playing their hand perfect, saying the right stuff when he brings up mental issues, Morey said the perfect words he has 4 years to trade. You really think Simmons wants to sit on the bench for the prime years of his career?
When it’s done with anger and ignorance yes when it’s expressing a desire to see the situation resolved no. The hateful ignorant comments outnumber the rest right now. Your comment was not a hateful one.
@JerBear
If Ben’s unable to handle jeers from opponents then he shouldn’t be playing professional sports. If he can’t handle jeers from frustrated Sixers fans then maybe he shouldn’t have demanded a trade, holdout from camp, dis his teammates when they tried to meet with him and thru leaks, intentional or otherwise, let it be known he wants to play ANYWHERE in the NBA aside from Philly. I can be compassionate about mental health but I can NOT be compassionate for a guy who wanted all the benefits of being a star pro athlete but can’t handle the basic responsibilities of being a professional (improving your craft) AND not mentally capable of handling the heckling that comes with it. Plenty of would be entertainers choose to work behind the scenes because they didn’t want to expose themselves to the scrutiny and pressures of being a frontman star talent. Boo hoo. I really wonder how legit his mental health claims are considering he won’t accept Sixers help or let them be part of the recovery process?
Why would he accept PHI offer for help?
No one in their right mind or not would!
PHI ain’t interested in him or his mental state, only in themselves, as the selfish organization that they are!
Are you kidding me??? The Sixers have baby’d this man like everyone else has his whole life! Where is the Ben Simmons accountability???
@ElDon
ummmm….. under contract for $200 mill left?
If it wasn’t for collective bargaining, he would be paid more and he wouldn’t have to deal with these fans, he could leave at his pleasure. It is unfair to him as an individual.
But ok, that is the framework he is operating in.. but then you have to accept he will use all the tools at his disposal. In the end, he is the one winning games, not the rich suits up in the luxury boxes and/or the fans who don’t appreciate his game.
.. and I am in no way saying he is faking his mental health issues, but it isn’t written down he needs to be suicidal… he can simply be feeling the pressure of a bunch of people who could never play his level of basketball, telling him what he should be doing when they get his services on a forced discount; I’d be mentally unprepared, too and in his line of work, he could get seriously hurt if he’s not prepared. Might as well sit it out until everything clears up.
You can’t be serious. He’s been babied his whole life and his whole time in Philly. He stinks. He can’t make a layup let alone a foul shot.
If he stinks, why are the Sixers waiting to trade him?
Sixer fans want it both ways… He is terrible, he is a baby, he has no heart… BUT PLEASE GIVE ME LILLARD because Simmons is a superstar.
You sound ridiculous. As is and was the process and why Sixer fan is in this mess.
Maybe next time, dont throw the guy who want to trade under the bus and berate him for 7 months? Maybe you can trade him then.
Whatever team he ends up with needs to use Simmons the same way Golden State does with Draymond. Of course that makes him an overpaid role player, but he is capable of being a better version of his counterpart in San Francisco.
He will never be anywhere near as good as Draymond Green. Simmons can be a contributor on a team that has a real good backcourt but can use some defense and rebounds from the 4/5 positions. Simmons doesn’t seem to be a guy who will sacrifice points and his body to help his teammates. He would need to set screens and do the dirty work under the basket. I doubt he could take the physicality it takes to play inside in the NBA.
poor baby simmons making 30 million a year and is a mental midget
Ofc. the $$$ solves everything, how can it not?
$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$
Kutch & Simmons are manipulating the CBA & taking advantage of a culture where Hurt Feelings somehow equals mental health issue, and an NBA where owners are powerless and the NBA commissioner is weak. It makes me want to stop watching NBA games.
Thank you for your expertise.
Simmons has the team by the balls. Once he said he wasn’t mentally prepared he took total control to sit out and get paid. Sixers would take a huge PR hit if they started fining him after saying that.
Wrong. If he won’t accept the team’s help he at least needs to show them he’s actually getting help. Words are just words without something backing them up. He doesn’t have the 76ers by the balls at all. They have no obligation to trade him.
The team already knows he’s getting help thru the NBA PA, wtf are you talking about? They have no obligation to trade him but obviously they won’t win anything unless they do
They’re not obligated to trade Simmons, but after everything that’s happened what’s the point in keeping him? He obviously doesn’t want to play for the Sixers anymore, so what are the alternatives to trading him? Let him sit out for an indefinite amount of time, nobody wins in that scenario. Or would they could wait until he’s ready to play and who knows what kind of effort they would receive from him. Probably about the same amount we see from players in the All-Star game.
You are clueless. His power and having the team by the balls is simple…. He was being fined by the team until the point he said he wasn’t mentally prepared. The team has since started paying him again.
I’d like to think this isn’t a ploy, but you never know, but once he said mentally prepared he had the team.
Wrong.
Your medical information is private. Sixers have NO right to know what Simmons is doing as long as he is seeking help.
I wonder if you would be willing to give up personal medical information to your employer.
The longer he sits out, the less of an offer Morey gets. I don’t understand why he keeps suggesting he’s the GOAT and won’t accept any offer under 49 1st’s.
He’s not that good, he had a terrible playoffs and now he’s not even playing at all. Your offers are only heading one direction dude.
The Sixers have proven they can win without Big Ben. The Sixers can wait 4 years can Big Ben. I don’t think so. Time for Big Ben to grow up.
Lol they were swept in the 1st rd when Ben was hurt a few seasons ago in the bubble. Is that when they proved they could win without him?
“A few years ago”…..what a dumb reply.
Wait for what, he’s getting his money for doing nothing.
Wait.
So the Sixers are gonna eat 30 million a year to prove a point? OMG please make this so.
The Longer this goes on, the less you get in a trade, the more you piss off Embiid, and the Sixers waste salary cap for a guy sitting on the bench.
Sixers screwed the pooch by letting the guy back in their complex and stopping the fines without an understanding with him and the NBAPA. Now there’s likely nothing they can do without putting the matter back in the spotlight. The last thing they need on any front.
They messed up by hiring a head coach who doesn’t like their star pg & doesn’t understand his game
They don’t have a star PG. Besides, Ben Simmons is a PF not a PG.
Not according to every Sixer fan from 2018 to April 2021.
@Sankara
You really think Rivers came into Philly with a grudge against Ben? You really think the comments he made are indications of a personal dislike too? Why can’t Ben just take critique like a man? He’s marshmallow soft. I worked for a record label where my boss laid into my ass on a weekly conference call in front of all the heads of the other departments and my team like I violated his daughter then afterwards when I questioned him he told me “you messed up kid. bet you won’t do it again. besides, everyone gets roasted once in a while. toughen up and let’s grab a beer “. Ben Simmons is NOT a victim.
I guess they should paddle him… that’ll teach him a lesson
Give Simmons a lobotomy. Problem solved.
Told ya. Ben ain’t playing, but he’s playing the SIXERS, the NBA and the fans.
Klutch wins again.
AND he’s giving people with REAL mental health problems less respect when they need it. You can’t cry about not wanting to play, then say that you’re “injured” and when none of that works say that you’re not mentally prepared to play just to get that paycheck. He’s a joke.
The boy who cried whatever he could to get paid and not play.
Plus it sets a really bad precedent for all of pro sports when a player wants to be traded and the team refuses to grant his request, even if they are in the right (which will always be debated ad nauseum).
Now all a disgruntled player has to do is say they’re not mentally prepared to play for a team they want to be traded from, and they will still get paid no matter what. This will be a movie someday.
If he’s not mentally prepared, he could go out and get hurt. He didn’t say he was suicidal..
Sigh…can’t he just go away.
And he won’t come in, either! lmao
Well they took an X Ray of Simmons head and it showed Nothing!
If I’m the Sixers I wouldn’t be mentally ready to pay him then.
Where can he go that he wouldn’t be a laughingstock?
Pretty much anywhere
Morey is starting to look really stupid in this. Waiting isn’t going to benefit anyone. Just trade the guy. As awful as his contract is it’s a privilege just to escape that thing.
Morey passed that point a long time ago. The problem now is no one is willing to give up anything of value for Simmons, let alone the asking price of both a quality player and draft compensation.
Morey made a bet and lost. He bet that Simmons’ value would rebound during the summer (or Lillard would request out) and he could give FU offers to teams on draft night and laugh it off.
Now Simmons’ value has done the opposite of rebound and he’s a borderline negative value contract. If Philly lands a star it will be giving up multiple future firsts in addition to Simmons, that’s almost a guarantee.
its such a weird thing. does this dude really have issues? and if he doesnt, just reaching deep for the most scummy thing to get paid.
I mean……it seems like Philly doubts the veracity of his illness to at least some degree. Seems unlikely there would be “frustration mounting” already if team execs truly believed Simmons was going through a legitimate mental debility.
If he isn’t mentally prepared to play, he could get hurt. He didn’t say he was suicidal. Why play at the risk of getting hurt when the organization and the fans have created a hostile work environment? Seems pretty straigjt forward… not “scummy”. Just the rules that were set-up to protect players and the NBA.
Ben doesn’t give a flying fig about playing in Philly. He’s lost the love, you feel me? Checked tf out. He’s just waiting for the Sixers to get as fed up as he is and FedEx him to another employer.
#FreeBenSimmons
why would he give an update to the sixers? dr., patient confidentiality.lol
Medical doctors give updates to sports teams when they examine players with physical injuries, I don’t know how it works with mental issues. Maybe it’s different in those cases.
All doctors have to have the patients consent to share info, it’s in the paper work when you visit any doctor.
It’s not exactly the same when you are under the care of a team doctor. The team is not allowed to share that info with anyone else, but they do have knowledge of all medical procedures performed by their employee on another employee. The doctor may not be ethically or legally allowed to come right out and say something, but there are other ways for that info to be known.
i see a conflict of interest with a patient confiding his issue with everyone/everything he’s opening about to the teams mental help therapist that should be between the two, but will ultimately be conveyed to the next person in the line and having this persist on. he still needs a relevance of privacy to gather his thoughts instead of having everyone say you should do this or you should do that. maybe in patient therapy to get away from it all, tho it might be out of his own pocket.
Have to agree with most of the people in this thread….what fan is really going to excited if their team trades for this guy?
Maybe like a team that hasn’t made playoffs last 2-3 years. Or something. Couldn’t possibly be worse he could probably make an eastern conference team an 8th seed lol
Yeah, I mean, as a Pistons fan it’d be exciting. As long as we didn’t give up too much for him, at least. (Obviously no Cade. No unprotected 1sts in the coming seasons, etc.)
If you don’t have anything to lose, he’d be an exciting addition. But I doubt anyone is willing to sell the farm for him.
If the Mavs were to trade KP for him, I’d be intrigued.
I 2nd that motion!
Simmons for 300 lb Zion. Two celebrated busts. Who says no!?
Haha hell yeah.
I’ve asked this before but if im the sixers why would i bother playing him anyway? I get the whole rebuilding trade value argument but you definitely won’t be getting a guy going hard for loose balls and giving 100% effort… 25% at best maybe.
Look at the price tag.
Ben still great player to me.hope bulls trade him.