At his introductory press conference with the Nets today, Ben Simmons said he doesn’t blame anyone in Philadelphia for the way his relationship with the Sixers ended. Addressing the media for the first time in more than 250 days, Simmons said he’s looking forward to playing again after the trade that sent him to Brooklyn last week.
Although there were reports that Simmons was upset over comments made by coach Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid following the seventh game of last season’s second-round loss to the Hawks, Simmons emphasized that the mental health issues that caused him to pull away from the team started long before that.
“For me, it was just making sure mentally I was right to get out there and play again,” he said (video link). “That’s something I’ve been dealing with, and it wasn’t about the fans or coaches or comments made by anybody. It was just a personal thing for me. That was earlier than that series or even that season that I was dealing with, and that organization knew that. So it’s something that I continue to deal with, and you know, I’m getting there and getting to the right place to get back on the floor.”
Simmons’ answer was much shorter when asked about Embiid — he responded, “No, I did not,” when asked if he talked to his former teammate after the trade was announced (video link). Embiid expressed frustration over Simmons’ situation more than once this season, notes Adam Hermann of NBC Sports Philadelphia, so it’s not surprising that they didn’t have anything to say to each another when Simmons left.
The Nets don’t have a date set for Simmons’ expected debut, but he said he’s “starting to ramp it up” to get ready to return to the court, according to an ESPN story. He told reporters that he hopes to be in uniform March 10 when Brooklyn travels to Philadelphia.
Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, offered thanks to the Sixers and their fans for supporting him during the six season he played in Philadelphia, the ESPN article adds. He said he spoke with Rivers, general manager Elton Brand and teammate Tobias Harris after the trade went through.
He also expressed excitement about teaming up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, saying the combination “is going to be scary.”
Simmons went through his first shootaround with his new team Monday night and joined his teammates on the bench afterward, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. Coach Steve Nash said it will be a “joint decision” between Simmons and the Nets’ staff on when he resumes playing.
“We have to put him in a position to have the necessary conditioning underneath him and to feel safe with it,” Nash said. “And then he also has to feel confident and comfortable that the time has come. So whenever that is, hopefully there’s a great partnership on those decisions.”
No one to blame ur the one to blame you acted like a big entitled baby and got ur feelings hurt because you choked in the playoffs and was called out for it
He said right in article that it was personal thing for him that he’d been dealing with for a while. If the 6ers brass knew about his mental problem like Simmons said they did they need to pay up. They paid Embiid for 2 years when he wasn’t playing because of his foot. Heck they paid Simmons for a year because of his foot when he couldn’t play either.
The difference is that Embiid was unable to play and Simmons just chose not to. As evidenced by the fact that all of a sudden his mental health is fine now that he has been traded.
Ummm no, “I’m getting there and getting to the right place to get back on the floor.” also “That’s something I’ve been dealing with, and it wasn’t about the fans or coaches or comments made by anybody. It was just a personal thing for me. That was earlier than that series or even that season that I was dealing with, and that organization knew that.”
So if what he said is true he’d played for a full season including the playoffs with the same issue.
As far as we’ve come on mental illness it’s apparent that we still have a long way to go.
@Taco
You’re choosing to buy that. You can’t convince me that righhhhhhhhhht around the time the trade was made his mental condition suddenly cleared itself. It was clear what was upsetting him. What mental issues exist that ONLY exist in Philly thus the “I’ll play anywhere other than Philly” declaration?
If it had of “cleared itself” and it was all BS he’d be playing now right?
I’m not taking it as gospel but he’s playing with fire if he’s lying because he’s said without saying 76ers knew he had issues before he was publicly slated by Doc. If true and we’ll see he’ll probably still be out until at least March. Any sooner it’s debatable. But the fact he hasn’t already laced up fuels the fire in Simmons favour.
He’s cleared to condition and ramp up so yes that’s exactly what’s happening.
@KnicksfanCavsFan I don’t know Ben and I don’t know his entire situation, but yeah removing the stimulus that triggers the mental issue (i.e. the 76ers front office and team brass) can go along ways in recovery from that mental issue.
First thing with Nets was a shoot around. Did Simmons just watch?
@Tacocat – I appreciate that you believe that mental illness isn’t taken seriously enough, but it’s really not the case here. In this case, it’s, all substantive respects, being treated the same as an alleged physical injury.
PHI almost certainly didn’t pay Embid or Simmons in the years they missed based merely on their statements that their feet hurt, but based on medical evidence that they were injured to the degree that they were unable to play. If they collected insurance, as reported, then eliminate the word almost. Evidence of a mental illness that rises to the level of being unable to play may not be as dispositive as a x-ray/mri showing a broken bone, but the process of establishing it for contract / insurance purposes is the same. The only relevant opinions are those of medical professionals. Thus, it’s irrelevant for that purpose what BS said or didn’t say, or whether the team “knew” what he said.
By all accounts, BS, to date, hasn’t made any attempt to establish that he had such an illness. Perhaps he will. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Had he said I want to come back and be sixer, but I’m going through things then I’d be more empathetic. But the fact the Clutch and him used that as an excuse then forget it. Plus he was so disengaged when he showed up. Own what you’re committed to, Ben Simmons. If its mental, okay stick with that. If the criticism got to you and you weren’t prepared then okay. But Clutch told an unhappy client to cry like Anthony Davis. Well I hope that everyone learns from this. Heck, if Ben Simmons says hey, I’d like to use some of my salary to help mental health, then okay, I can buy some stock in that action. But you have to have integrity, and that starts by being accountable. Then I’ll believe you
Widen the aperture…
Wow.. way to start a comment section about not laying blame and moving forward…. Next up, let’s talk about each others mothers and girlfriends….
What’s currently scary about the trio is the over/under on how many games all 3 will play together this year.
They have a shot of more than the old Nets big 3 total of 16 games over almost 2 seasons. Of course they only have 9 non Knicks road games left in the regular season.
So he says he wanted to be in the right place mentally to play… and now he’s ramping up to play again… so the mental block must have been playing for the sixers and the team because all of a sudden he’s ready to go again and no one has heard a thing about his mental struggles outside of there are in fact mental issues for him? Based on this article he had issues and according to him still is working on it, so why is he okay to play with the nets..
DUH. And sorry for the rant, needed to get that out even though it should be obvious.
Umm, the near $20M he lost could have been a motivating factor to play if there were no issues. He has a better support system now with a number of Australians (and a Kiwi GM who has roots in the NBL) on the team and in the organization who can help him. Both he and Harden felt their previous situations were toxic, so hopefully both can do better for themselves in their new environs.
Nobody to blame but you
Already practicing and ready to play… yeah.. mental health issues is why he hasn’t played this year.. wink wink.. Feel bad for those with real mental health issues.. real mental health issues just don’t disappear after you get what you want
Take some accountability Ben, you gave up
Unless it changes through arbitration he took about 19-20 millions dollars worth of accountability.
Athletes don’t have to be role models but I wish they could be role models.
He could have easily said “there is a lot of blame to go around and most of it falls on me.”” I learned a lot dealing with this situation and subsequently my mental health issues and look forward to using what I learned to make myself a better person.”
How hard would that have been? Blame is good if you are a person that values accountability and improvement. It’s necessary to diagnose the issue as the first stages of searching for ways to improve upon the situation.
I’m sorry I want to point this out, he’s saying here that this mental health thing has been ongoing for a very long time and the 76ers staff knew about it long before he choked vs Hawks.
If this is true, (if not Philly will call him out.)But if they stay silent, it’s true and I find it a joke Doc, Morey etc made up such a sh**storm. If the guy has recorded mental health issues publicly bashing him is the last thing to do and I think if we hear nothing from Philly they need looking into.
Either way it’s finally over I hope he does well for the nets and I hope the beard does well for Philly. Two top players that are great to watch.
It’s done. Philly’s not doing anything. They’re glad it’s over with and just let him say what he wants to save face. That’s fine it’s over.
I know it won’t happen but it’d pretty awesome if in his debut he takes the ball down court, isos, does a couple dribble moves, a little hesitation then calmly nails a step back 3 over Marcus Smart’s outstretched arms.
Ahahahahahaha
Blessing in disguise for Sixers. Now they have a rebounder, shooter, and a passing defender instead of ball hawking egomaniac. Plenty time for Simmons to get in shape and KD to get healthy. It’s now all in Kyrie’s hands or the lawmakers. :)
Edit… “Blessing in disguise for the Nets.”
Nets big time winners on the trade. Good luck to the Sixers, hope JH works out for them. Hope Simmons can put past behind and get a grip on himself. The NBA missed you Ben, welcome back.
@muthuh Telling us you don’t follow basketball without saying you don’t follow basketball.
Simmons = Jive Turkey
That’s weird. I was under the impression this entire thing was his fault. I guess I’m wrong, since he isn’t taking any blame.
Of course you are wrong, duh… it took all this time to realize it???
I believe the headline reads: “No One to Blame for Situation with Sixers.” I don’t interpret that to mean he blames everyone but himself. I also don’t interpret it to mean that he’s the only one responsible for what happened. There are plenty of situations that are beyond your control. As a Nets’ fan, I hope he realizes his full potential. Unlike his situation, I feel that Kyrie has a lot of control over his situation, but I personally can’t control it. I won’t stop rooting for him as a member of my favorite team. I had accused him earlier this season of putting his teammate with a heart condition, LMA, at risk with his behavior, but I’ll leave that to the professionals in the organization to decide.
Ben is soft …… Bklyn will toughen his Aaa up. The thing he MUST work on and improve.
Is FREE THROWS …. His FT% has to get over 70%. 75% should be his goal.
As someone who has fealty with mental health issues with people very close to him, I don’t wanna hear that. That’s Grade F, BS. He played horribly and embarrassed himself and his organization in the playoffs, you have a pathetic work ethic Bc your game hasn’t improved since he was drafted, and he pouted Bc he got called out for all the above. He doesnt get to use the “mental health” excuse when everyone knows he didn’t feel like playing for the Sixers again. He took his ball and went home. Don’t blame any of that GARBAGE on “mental health issues”
Good luck in New York Bc they’re gonna eat him ALIVE
I haven’t seen the BKN org devour their own. Seems like a respectful org. They were open and transparent with Kyrie. They are handling the issue as it is like professionals. Some fans in the peanut gallery are frothing at the mouth just like the hooligans in PHI, but if/when the team has his back, it won’t matter, he’ll then be in a safe place to cope.
I’ve written this elsewhere, but I’m wondering if he can play G-League games as part of his ramp up. LI Nets head coach, Adam Caporn, was his coach about a decade ago at AIS in Australia. That may go a way toward his learning the system and reacclimating to the flow of the game.
I look forward to seeing Simmons playing again, the NBA is better with him. Good luck man!
Finally one smart comment here, site full of haters for no reason, must live a very sad life!
Ben Simmons is one of the top guys in the league, so him playing is always a huge win for all the real hoops fans!
Ben Simmons “there’s no one to blame for the situation I just came from in Philly”
Also Ben Simmons “I live in a house with no mirrors”
I love how no one is to blame for you being a big selfish baby. On top of that, it’s super sad you faking mental health to not play. Their are all people who really do suffer and you pull that? I hope for the rest it career, that same karma comes around to you. It’s disgusting to be quite frank.
Get a life, dude!
You know nothing about Ben Simmons, only what the media feeds down your throat & what you read by the way too many haters in this site!
Meet the man, spend time with him, then after dozens of hours of one on one with him, you might be in a position to evaluate his mental health, that is if you have the knowledge/qualifications for that… otherwise, how do you even dare say he is faking it, the gall of you!!!
Can you prove he is faking?
Be quiet Frank
Wow,50 point blow out tonight against the Celtics. Better hope the Harden circus passes by. The Celtics were one of the few good teams PHI was having success against this season.