Ben Simmons Meets With 76ers, Expresses Position He's Not Mentally Ready To Play

[RealGM Wiretap]

Ben Simmons spoke with Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid and the entire Philadelphia 76ers team and accepted that everyone needs to take responsibility for the situation, including himself.

Simmons informed the 76ers that he's not mentally ready to play currently and needs more time. 

Via Shams Charania/The Athletic

[alienpick]

Man up boy. You signed a 4 year commitment. Go out and ball; build up your value so they can actually trade you. Drajic doesn't super want to play for the Raptors, but he's out there. CP3 didn't really want to play for the Thunder, but went out there and proved his worth and got traded. Time to put on your big boy pants... and while you are at it... time to develop a shot.

[Barcs]

Simmons is acting like a baby. He's just saying this to avoid getting docked more money. He's either a complete flake or completely full of ****. Players just don't have love for the game anymore. Kyrie and him are basically just drama queens.

[HotelVitale]

That makes sense to me, I know it's partially just a way for him to get paid, but it sounds like he's at least approaching some more honest footing about the situation. Makes sense his mind is telling him not to go into a hostile situation after he spent months saying 'f all that noise' and not preparing for the possibility he would have to return to the team, and I can sympathize with that feeling too even if I don't agree with the way Simmons handled everything. He doesn't want to walk into a wall of hate, and he'd already convinced himself that he was out the door.

I'd be really happy if this conversation moved away from who's right and who's wrong and empty moralizing ('man up!' throwing under the bus!' etc), and shifted to how Simmons is going to deal with a tough situation he now sees he can't avoid. More interesting and real discussion there.

[tbdog]

Simmons is acting like a baby. He's just saying this to avoid getting docked more money. He's either a complete flake or completely full of ****. Players just don't have love for the game anymore. Kyrie and him are basically just drama queens.

So, people with mental health issues are babies in your opinion?

[Spot31]

Simmons is being a baby. Man I wish I could get paid like that....

[DJ_3_Ball]

So now we're trivializing mental illness, so we can keep collecting our paycheck? Nice.

(forget the idea of being a man of your word and fulfilling your contract. Too much to ask)

That's all this is. A way for Simmons to sit at home, but legally still receive his paycheck.

[bay2hk]

So now we're trivializing mental illness, so we can keep collecting our paycheck? Nice.

(forget the idea of being a man of your word and fulfilling your contract. Too much to ask)

That's all this is. A way for Simmons to sit at home, but legally still receive his paycheck.

Simmons getting bad advice from the start. He should look into switching agents after all this is over.

[shrink]

So, people with mental health issues are babies in your opinion?

Right now, our younger generations are having difficulty distinguishing between the personal responsibility of dealing with stressful situations, particularly ones we create, and not dealing with them by claiming “mental health issues.”

[Pickled Prunes]

That makes sense to me, I know it's partially just a way for him to get paid, but it sounds like he's at least approaching some more honest footing about the situation. Makes sense his mind is telling him not to go into a hostile situation after he spent months saying 'f all that noise' and not preparing for the possibility he would have to return to the team, and I can sympathize with that feeling too even if I don't agree with the way Simmons handled everything. He doesn't want to walk into a wall of hate, and he'd already convinced himself that he was out the door.

I'd be really happy if this conversation moved away from who's right and who's wrong and empty moralizing ('man up!' throwing under the bus!' etc), and shifted to how Simmons is going to deal with a tough situation he now sees he can't avoid. More interesting and real discussion there.

I see your point. But Simmons put himself in that difficult situation. We all have things to work through. Is Simmons working with the team to get help, or will everything be OK once he's home and seeing those checks roll in?

Remember when Royce White had to quit the NBA because of his anxiety and fear of flying? It was a known issue when he was drafted. With a personal driver he could have made it to nearly every game, but he was never able to make it work in the NBA. At the time nobody seemed to care. Now we're supposed to be concerned about the feelings of a player who has intentionally created a hostile working environment? I can't get there. Unless Simmons is actively seeking help he needs to stay home without pay. Mental health is not something to dry wolf about.

[Pickled Prunes]

That makes sense to me, I know it's partially just a way for him to get paid, but it sounds like he's at least approaching some more honest footing about the situation. Makes sense his mind is telling him not to go into a hostile situation after he spent months saying 'f all that noise' and not preparing for the possibility he would have to return to the team, and I can sympathize with that feeling too even if I don't agree with the way Simmons handled everything. He doesn't want to walk into a wall of hate, and he'd already convinced himself that he was out the door.

I'd be really happy if this conversation moved away from who's right and who's wrong and empty moralizing ('man up!' throwing under the bus!' etc), and shifted to how Simmons is going to deal with a tough situation he now sees he can't avoid. More interesting and real discussion there.

In case you don't remember Royce White....

Watch on YouTube

[/quote]

[Openheimer]

If he was traded tomorrow he would be mentally ready to play tomorrow?

[SoCalJazzFan]

The owners are going to use Simmons as Exhibit A during the next CBA as to why they should be able to not pay a player during his insubordination or move towards non-guaranteed deals, more along the lines of the NFL.

[GunnerWRX]

Simmons expressed that he wants to play but isn't prepared mentally currently.

So his mind is both telling him to play but also he is not ready to play?

[dougthonus]

The fact that he at least came out and said he deserves some blame here and just needs time is a pretty positive step towards actually reconciling.

[hype_2004]

The owners are going to use Simmons as Exhibit A during the next CBA as to why they should be able to not pay a player during his insubordination or move towards non-guaranteed deals, more along the lines of the NFL.

Well, expect another lockout and possible cancellation of a season.

[Nate the Great]

People can write this off as an excuse, but if you’re not a mental health expert, you can’t say that for certain. The NBA should jump in here and appoint a psychiatrist to judge whether this is a legitimate psychological issue. If he truly can’t play for mental health reasons, he should be treated the same as if he had a physical injury.

[Cavsfansince84]

People can write this off as an excuse, but if you’re not a mental health expert, you can’t say that for certain. The NBA should jump in here and appoint a psychiatrist to judge whether this is a legitimate psychological issue. If he truly can’t play for mental health reasons, he should be treated the same as if he had a physical injury.

I think there's a huge area between not being mentally ready to compete and having some type of serious mental issue. I don't really care whether Simmons plays or not and I can easily see how he wouldn't feel like he's in the right frame of mind to rejoin the team and start playing in games right now but I don't think its a sign of some kind of major issue he has either. I think he just doesn't feel comfortable right now. Same as how some tennis players step away from their sport because they just aren't in the right mindset to play for a while.

[CobraCommander]

That’s cool- they not mentally ready to pay him.

Dude ain’t slick

[dantheman74]

Sign contract first, claim mental illness after. A lesson to be learnt here boys.