The Tomjas Thread

[76ciology]

Spoiler:

Do you guys think Ben Simmons can’t play because of “mental health” issues? Or is it just being used as an excuse.

As with most things the answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

I have no doubt Ben is not exactly thrilled to have to not only face his teammates but also face the fanbase after that playoff series and this offseason. I fully feel like Ben and his team just knew they would be elsewhere by now so it never even crossed their minds...hence all of the leaks prior to training camp in hopes of it happening sooner. Now Ben can either lose his money (something thanks to his spending habits, he can't exactly afford), hurt his friends he has on the team, and also have his reputation dragged through the mud or Face the music so to speak. As someone who struggles with anxiety, yeah that sounds like a **** ass situation lol. Neither option is good or easy..the easiest outcome would have been to be traded and just simply skip every Sixer game for the rest of your career or until the heat dies down. Morey said lolno to that tho.

BUT thats just me. Ben and Klutch has approached this terribly from the jump. If this mental illness thing is truly just a ploy to get paid, then they should have done so from the jump because now he is under a microscope and if it ever comes out he was faking this...then that is a death knell to his career almost. I'd say they'd have to be really stupid to think faking mental illness is a great idea but ...here we are.

That being said Ben def struggles with the mental side of thing. Whether or not its to the level of not being able to play idk...but dude has shown at the very least the fear of failing and looking bad.

Agree. Its somewhere in the middle but for me its mostly BS.

This one is what im not sure at. But dont Ben saying its a mental illness prevents Sixers from imposing fines or penalties from him?

[SixthStreet]

I think it wouldn't surprise any Sixers fan if Simmons had a legitimately clinical diagnosis of mental health issue. There were signs of it going back several years, long before the trade request. I am sympathetic to that so I don't want to speculate on it since he himself isn't commenting on it.

That said, I posted this on another thread, I believe that the only team he isn't "mentally fit" to play today for is the Sixers. If he's had an issue before it didn't stop him from playing well.

I think two things can and probably are true. (A) He does have a mental illness that requires treatment from professionals, and (B) he is using it as a tool to force the trade he seeks. The first should engender much sympathy but the second is the reason he doesn't get any benefit of the doubt from Sixers fans.

[Mik317]

its also hurt by the fact that they also claimed his back was having issues as well. So it does reek of just wanting to get paid.

HOWEVER, the main thing that does work in his favor is that he had a face to face with the team... I don't think Ben would be able to lie right to their faces and I think they'd know if he was.

So until the next event, I am satisfied with that basically.

[76ciology]

So Dejounte Murray got a triple double. Im like, hey this kid maybe picking it up. Then i checked his season stat..

15ppg on 18FGA and 37FG%?

Point god Korky can do better if we give him that much usage.

[Dannyboy36]

Kyrie Irving is the Hail Mary but if you think about it he’s exactly the player to yolo a championship for us.

Might not even need to give up Ben in the end who knows. Nets front-court sucks (Harris hint hint )

Embiid even with Butler isn’t a great pnr big operator always been a floater since rookie season.

Irving don’t need no damn screen, pnr, whatevs dude can solo 30 by himself.

Embiid + Irving + Ben, now in some form or another mentality wise they are a basket case all of them. But playing wise my goodness that setup has all ability to run through everybody.

Say the cost is Harris and two late 1sts or one 1st and Springer for Uncle Drew. It makes me stop and think.

At least we can all die not wondering if the team is maxed out as best as it can be. It gives you a real chance that’s all you that can ask for in sports.

If the Nets say no straight away cool, but the proposition is there. Even with trading Ben it’s food for thought. Irving is that good when he’s on.

To add to that is his teammate by the name of Harden’s ongoing what if’s.

Both of them won’t cost a fortune (Butler/Leonard deal something like that).

As a Celtics fan who has no ill will towards the Sixers, I’d say don’t hope for this. Kyrie is a special case. Of all the crazy things he does the biggest problem is even if you get him to play he will go in front of a microphone and throw his teammates under the bus. He may do it directly. He may do it in a passive aggressive way. But you can be sure he will. It also won’t be an isolated incident.
Kyrie even before the drama started in Boston it was the first time so many die hards just had to turn the channel. He took the team snd fun out of everything.
Ben seriously let you guys down but it seems like the guys left for the right attitude. ( aside from Embiid who I like but he’s a bit of a diva too and hasn’t helped the situation). Not an enviable position. I bet the organization would accept him back but I think the fans have trashed him too much . ( which I totally understand) Good luck to you guys. Stay away from Kyrie! You’ll ha e Joel saying get me out of here. Not another selfish guy.

[Kobblehead]

Do you guys think Ben Simmons can’t play because of “mental health” issues? Or is it just being used as an excuse.

Excuse, of course.

[Bum Adebayo]

I'm sure he is mentally exhausted with the situation of course, but this is not the same as mental illness. I think if he had mental illness, we wouldn't have seen him at Wimbledon enjoying and acting like everything is still amazing.

[Sixerscan]

I'm sure he is mentally exhausted with the situation of course, but this is not the same as mental illness. I think if he had mental illness, we wouldn't have seen him at Wimbledon enjoying and acting like everything is still amazing.

I have no idea if he has a mental illness but certainly there are people with mental illnesses that have wildly different moods depending on the week/day/hour/minute.

[SixthStreet]

Yes, I'd be fairly careful making the case that just because Simmons went to Wimbledon or posted something on Instagram with a new car or whatever that he's fine. Mental illness doesn't manifest itself in every waking moment of someones day.

[Rastas]

When Ben reads this thread his Mental Problems flare up.

Sent from my SM-G998B using RealGM mobile app

[Negrodamus]

Each passing Kings game makes me feel more confident we can get Fox and I am here for it.

[MVP1992]

Being embarassed is not mental illness.

Being upset about family issues is not caused by the 76ers.

He was cleared to play with back complaint.

I say keep fining him.

[Skates]

Could they keep fining him, possibly, but none of us knows what the back injury and mental/mind space issues are. It seems like Simmons, management and the players including Embiid are trying to cool things down, get out of the news cycle and allow both sides to stop the scorched earth battle in order to move Simmons at the best possible value. I doubt they can undo all of the damage but maybe enough where they have a common goal of finding the right deal for everyone. The Sixers took a hardline and can again if needed, but this appears to be a detente as much as anything, smoothing out the bumpiness of the ride along the way to a December or January trade timeframe.

[FlyingArrow]

My prediction... Nov 13. Ben's first game back. That starts a 6-game road trip so he doesn't have to face the Sixers' fans for a few games. If he plays hard for 6 games (and maybe even helps win a couple), I think there will be mostly cheering for him when he gets back to Philly.

[76ciology]

Do you guys think Ben Simmons can’t play because of “mental health” issues? Or is it just being used as an excuse.

Excuse, of course.

I think its right if the entire league and the Sixers would investigate this matter. I do think its an issue bigger than Ben and Sixers.

The league should find a way to know if a player is just “faking” this mental health issues just to not do their part in their contract.

The league should find a way to penalize a player who isnt delivering their part of their contract (banning them temporarily or permanently).

Even just taking actions to these issues would scare the players straight and prevent bigger problems like having a scenario in the future where the 10 top tier stars in the league opts not to play and just enjoy their 100M per year contract because they have these “mental health” issues while you see them partying or going to london watching wimbledon matches or something.

[76ciology]

Being embarassed is not mental illness.

Being upset about family issues is not caused by the 76ers.

He was cleared to play with back complaint.

I say keep fining him.

Im not sure ok?

But from what i read, Ben found a loophole for him not to get fined because of saying he has mental health issues.

So Morey seems to be playing along saying that if thats the case then Ben has the entire team’s support and hope he recovers well.

Its like when you dont want to go to class, you fake someone in your family’s death.

[Tomjas]

People see mental health professionals because it’s fun

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/sad-ben-simmons-mental-health-secret-kept-quiet-for-months/news-story/d5191ce51b5cf58e156d6bcb7515278c

[76ciology]

Let’s say we dont get a good return for Ben, just some meh player and picks.

Then we continue to have this situation where Biid is healthy one day and cant walk the next.

Do we consider just rebuilding this team from scratch or do we still drag this?

Personally, I dont have an answer to this

[76ciology]

So it was just a back issue.
Then the sixers fine Ben.
Ben now says its a mental health issue.

Read on Twitter

Then the Sixers fine him

Per Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice, Simmons’ camp did not exactly expect the fines and the punishments to be this high as they continue their holdout:

Simmons’ representation had another discussion with the players association in which it was reiterated they would be unable to recoup the money being deducted from the $8.25 million sitting in escrow, sources say, and it was communicated to the Sixers that these early fines were perhaps higher than they expected.

Then its not a back issue but a mental health issue

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports the Sixers are not fining him anymore for missing practices:

Some of this … is because of a standard provision in player contracts that says if you’re dealing with a mental health issue, which Ben Simmons has reported to the team that he is, he wants to work on himself mentally and physically this week, they’ve taken that in good faith and said ‘OK, we’re taking that that you are working on yourself menatlly and physically and we’ve offered resources available to you’.

However, a team source refuted that. The source said the first time Simmons communicated his mental exhaustion was this week. On Friday, the Sixers communicated to Simmons and his representation that he’ll have access to whatever resources he may need while managing this situation.
Source: Keith Pompey @ The Philadelphia Inquirer

Then Morey has to release this statement

“Yeah Ben came in at the end of last week and said he had back stiffness and he has, he’s dealing with some personal reasons off the court. Both [the Sixers] take very seriously. We’re working with Ben to provide every resource to help him with what is needed. And he spoke to his teammates, things seem to be moving very much in a positive direction. We’re gonna provide all the resources and get Ben what he needs and get him out there as soon as we can.”

Ben’s camp’s mistake is they should just declared it as a mental health issue from the get go. Not only could they saved a lot of money from fines/penalties but they would look less like liars.

So mental health issue just to go away from fines?
Back issue just to excuse yourself from practices?

Ben’s back and mental health seems fine for the entire offseason. He was even working out with some pros and never did heavy practice with the team.

I try to maintain an open mind but all the excuse just seems to have motive behind them.

[Tomjas]

So it was just a back issue.
Then the sixers fine Ben.
Ben now says its a mental health issue.

Read on Twitter

Then the Sixers fine him

Per Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice, Simmons’ camp did not exactly expect the fines and the punishments to be this high as they continue their holdout:

Simmons’ representation had another discussion with the players association in which it was reiterated they would be unable to recoup the money being deducted from the $8.25 million sitting in escrow, sources say, and it was communicated to the Sixers that these early fines were perhaps higher than they expected.

Then its not a back issue but a mental health issue

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports the Sixers are not fining him anymore for missing practices:

Some of this … is because of a standard provision in player contracts that says if you’re dealing with a mental health issue, which Ben Simmons has reported to the team that he is, he wants to work on himself mentally and physically this week, they’ve taken that in good faith and said ‘OK, we’re taking that that you are working on yourself menatlly and physically and we’ve offered resources available to you’.

However, a team source refuted that. The source said the first time Simmons communicated his mental exhaustion was this week. On Friday, the Sixers communicated to Simmons and his representation that he’ll have access to whatever resources he may need while managing this situation.
Source: Keith Pompey @ The Philadelphia Inquirer

Then Morey has to release this statement

“Yeah Ben came in at the end of last week and said he had back stiffness and he has, he’s dealing with some personal reasons off the court. Both [the Sixers] take very seriously. We’re working with Ben to provide every resource to help him with what is needed. And he spoke to his teammates, things seem to be moving very much in a positive direction. We’re gonna provide all the resources and get Ben what he needs and get him out there as soon as we can.”

Ben’s camp’s mistake is they should just declared it as a mental health issue from the get go. Not only could they saved a lot of money from fines/penalties but they would look less like liars.

So mental health issue just to go away from fines?
Back issue just to excuse yourself from practices?

Ben’s back and mental health seems fine for the entire offseason. He was even working out with some pros and never did heavy practice with the team.

I try to maintain an open mind but all the excuse just seems to have motive behind them.

Very few people admit to having mental health issues and especially in the sporting world