76ers back to fining Ben Simmons

[Duke4life831]

If I was Ben I'd just go back playing the best way I can raising my trade value hoping to get traded by the deadline. Doesnt matter if I have to come off the bench.
This is the only way that makes sense on all levels

That option is long gone. Too big of egos involved for this to happen now. If Simmons does that, that means he has to check his ego and pride and come back and play for the team he doesnt want to and he would have to play really hard for them. Plus if he does pump up his trade value and gets traded for a star. That means the guy who I assume he probably hates at the moment (Morey) would come out as looking like the winner in this.

Simmons has way too big of an ego to do that. Just like I think Morey has way too big of an ego not to get a massive return for Simmons. I think this is a clear situation of two guys with massive egos that have both played themselves into being in a really crappy situation.

[jstross]

Ridiculous that anyone would equate this situation to slavery. Clueless as to the horrors of what actually transpired during slavery. Just clueless. The man voluntarily signed a $177,000,000 contract to play a game. That's right $177,000,000. He could've done a one year deal or just not resigned. He wants the best of both worlds.

[The High Cyde]

I actually feel for Sixers fan, they got stuck with a cupcake. Dude gets called out from his teammates regarding the biggest games of their season and then just gets so butthurt he can’t deal with anything. He’s a child.

They also lost cause he freezes out of the offense in fourth quarters when he does play, that’s just disappointing.

Hope the Sixers can recoup some value back from this softie.

[TheNewEra]

Simmons needs to stay home and just take the money hit if his own personal doctors are not a good enough resource to not get fined

[jbent87]

Mental health professional appears to have recommended that he not play for the 76ers right now. That’s enough per the contract he signed. So he is fulfilling his obligations.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Several people in this thread have stated or implied at this point that Simmons has no obligation to share anything about his condition or treatment, but that's not the way it works when you're getting paid $30 million dollars to play in the NBA.

Directly from the CBA:

"A Player who consults or is treated by a physician (including a psychiatrist) or a professional providing non-mental health related medical services (e.g., chiropractor, physical therapist) other than a physician or other professional designated by the Team shall give notice of such consultation or treatment to the Team and shall provide the Team with all information it may request concerning any condition that in the judgment of the Team’s physician may affect the Player’s ability to play skilled basketball."

I’m reading it now and I believe it’s worth going to arbitration over it (there are some rights that can’t be collectively bargained away). The 76ers have consistently leaked information regarding this issue and can be seen as the cause of these mental health issues. I think there is enough to bring it there but I think the entire thing is silly.

What’s the next step? Ben comes back and misses shots on purpose.. I don’t get what they want. Just seems like they are acting like babies.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

they're simply asking for updates on his current status and he isn't providing them. This jives with his behavior over the last x months since the playoffs ended, where he ghosted the entire team. He now claims this is a mental health situation, as that will get them off his back for a while, but it sounds like he isn't treating the mental health aspect seriously by not going to the therapist/psyciatrist, or at the very least he's doing that but isn't informing his employer of his status.

If your employer offered to pay for you to go to rehab they would sign the deal and cut the check, and be told when to expect you back. It doesn't sound like Ben or Rich Paul are saying anything to the Sixers right now about his status, so Morey said okay I guess we're back to playing hardball here. Enjoy your game fines again until you act like a man/professional/human being and answer the **** phone when we call to see what the hell is going on. Instead he's acting like a spoiled brat again, like he was all summer.

[kenwood3333]

If Ben Simmons plays this season, not even at a star level, it would have made a trade much more viable. But he is too soft to face his teammates and the media. He would rather hide in a corner and make excuses.

[Adopt_Me_Masai]

Ben has obviously **** up but reading Sixers fan acting like their organization has done NOTHING wrong in this thread, that they're some model organization in crisis management is just laughable at this point, really. This will 100% go down as a lose-lose for Simmons and the Sixers and it's what both parties deserve. HA!

[bbalnation]

Simmons can go work at a car rental place if he'd like, he can go sell TVs at Best Buy if he'd like. There wouldnt be a league anymore if players could just get up and decide to play for whatever team they want on any given day. There does need to be some kind of structure to make the league work.

And guess what in return for that, players get paid ridiculous amounts of money to play a game. That is a hell of a trade off. If Simmons didnt think the money was worth playing in Philly, no one forced him to sign a contract in Philly where he can get paid 35 million a year. He could've said no I will just take the QO and become a free agent the next summer.

There is nothing racist about this. There isn't something in NBA contracts that allows white players to just get up and move to whatever team they want, whenever they want. But black players cant.

Its pretty simple, Ben Simmons signed a 5 year contract for 177 million dollars to play for Philly. There is nothing racist about this situation.

Watch Kaps Netflix show if you haven't already? I see where you're coming from and generally agree, there does need to be a structure that promotes competition. But that structure needs to consider the very real history that exists within slavery & sport. Right now, it doesnt, but it does more so than it did 10, 20, 50 years ago, etc.

To say "there is nothing racist about this situation" is very black and white/all or nothing thinking. We live in racist and sexist systems, that were part of. So its natural that there will be pieces of it in different places. To denounce it authoritatively and with confidence, when the history is there and the structure isn't currently adequately set up...?

This is what I cant stand with this stuff. I cant stand when people look for undertones and things between the lines, when there really is nothing there. Ya I saw parts of Kaepernicks show and thought it was laughably bad. Him trying to draw connections between the NFL combine and a slave auction. Guess what the combine is, its a job interview. Guess what the job is for, an athletic game. Guess what is very important for a professional athletic game, athletic measurements. Guess what is the best way to get get those, to measure their athletic abilities. I also love how the NFL went from being racist for blackballing him, to now the NFL itself is a racist system...

Also the very real history that exists within slavery and sport? Ya back in the days only whites were allowed to play professional sports. But now there is a slavery connection to the basic structure of sports? That makes zero sense. How is the basic structure of the NBA (like playing for a team) have racist undertones when there were no black players in the NBA for the first 4 years of it? Or were the people that created the NBA just so forward thinking that they knew decades down the line the NBA was going to be a majority of black players, so they decided to make a connection between how they created the structure for the league and slavery...

There is nothing racist about a basic contract. Again there is nothing in NBA contract that says a white player can go choose his team whenever he wants but a black player cant. I dont recall people talking about the racist structures of the NBA when JJ Redick came out and was pissed that he asked for a trade and didnt get one, and he wanted to play up in New York and by the time he did get traded it was down to Texas.

Kids of all races and from all over the world dream about being professional athletes. They dream about playing in the NBA or the NFL or whatever league. There are countless stories of players talking about how they were heart broken because they didnt get invited to the NFL combine. These arent racist structures.

You don't (yet) see the racism in these structures, Duke4life831.

It doesn't mean that they aren't there, since systems we live in are inherently designed to benefit a few over the rest, and were building systems on top of said flawed systems (before improving or recreating them).

I thought people would rock with the Kap show, noted that its not for everyone.

When we look back on history, we'll see the facts about these contracts:
We'll see that 50% of NBA profits have gone to 30 NBA owners, and over 75% of those owners are White Males.
What fans are paying to see are the players themselves (lets say 75% Black)

These are relevant facts and stats because we see that race exists in this population, even if you choose to close your eyes to it.

The way we evaluate value add now is different than it will be in... 30-50 years. Im not quite sure what value add these owners have brought beyond dollars, and right now, the league is healthy enough to sustain itself (thus CBA negotiations are gonna be interesting)

You may be inclined to explain why owners are important. I'm saying, in x years, I think that **** will be seen as meaningless, and people will be saying that billionaires/owners are just people who sit around and make money off of peoples backs all day.

[jstross]

Maxey has a ways to go, but on the offensive end of the court he's been more than adequate. Defensively in time I think he;ll be Ok too.

I actually feel for Sixers fan, they got stuck with a cupcake. Dude gets called out from his teammates regarding the biggest games of their season and then just gets so butthurt he can’t deal with anything. He’s a child.

They also lost cause he freezes out of the offense in fourth quarters when he does play, that’s just disappointing.

Hope the Sixers can recoup some value back from this softie.

[Duke4life831]

Ridiculous that anyone would equate this situation to slavery. Clueless as to the horrors of what actually transpired during slavery. Just clueless. The man voluntarily signed a $177,000,000 contract to play a game. That's right $177,000,000. He could've done a one year deal or just not resigned. He wants the best of both worlds.

Just to add onto this because whenever people try to equate sports and slavery, it truly pisses me off.

A few key things here.

Freedom and choice: Athletes have freedom and choice, two things that slaves did not. Athletes have chosen to be athletes. This is the career path that they have worked for and dreamed of since they were children. No kid dreamed about maybe one day they get to be a slave! Athletes at any given moment can choose to no longer be an athlete.

Quality of life: Slaves had the worst quality of life you can imagine. While on the flip side, athletes live a life that most couldn't even comprehend how great it is. They get paid millions upon millions of dollars to play a game. They have thousands and some have millions of people that look up to them. They work only about half the year. They live in luxurious homes in luxurious neighborhoods, while driving around in luxury cars, while vacationing in the most fancy countries.

That is just some of the basic baseline differences between the two. That isn't even touching upon the truly horrible inhumane acts that were done to slaves.

There really is no better way to show just how out of touch with reality you are, then by trying to make the ignorant comparison of slaves and athletes.

[jbent87]

Exactly. This isn't unreasonable and it's super annoying the amount of people who just blindly think a player claiming mental healthy issues is above any question or reproach just because they've said the words "my mental health". They think that's the ultimate trump card and once it's played you should just shut your mouth on it.

As someone who's dealt with mental health issues and pretty clearly sees this as a situation where mental health issues are being abused to be compensated for not working, I think it's complete bull.

Yeah this is the difference between coming up with some dumb strategy with your buddies versus trying to execute said strategy to screw over a multi-billion dollar organization.

And maybe he is suffering from mental issues for all we know, still gotta show the proof and work with the organization if you want the checks to come. Pretty simple.

Simmons has been seeing the NBA therapist for several months, so when this goes to court (of law) he'll simply provide the mental health report, but he should never willingly share it with the Sixers. You know their history of mismanaging Fultz and Zhaire.....you can never trust the Sixers, and even less in this situation. And if he shares the mental health report the Sixers will probably leak bits and pieces anonymously to the media to create a false narrative with lines taken out of context....

I doubt the Sixers are asking to see his "mental health report," whatever the hell that is. They're simply asking for updates on his status and he isn't providing them, bc he's a ****, for a lack of a better word. Morey has been playing hardball with him and Klutch this entire time, he eased up when they brought in the mental health angle, but if you're gonna return to ghosting me and not thinking you need to let me know where the hell you are and what you're doing when you're supposed to be getting treatment, then you're not getting paid. I'm sure he'll pick up the phone now.

[Pointgod]

Point of clarification because the wrong point has been repeated multiple times. Ben Simmons is working with mental health therapists through the NBAPA. He’s refused to see the Sixers therapist because I’m guessing it’s part of his paranoia that he can’t trust the team doctors. This will eventually go to arbitration because it’s just a cycle that’s going to keep repeating itself.

[Flash4thewin]

Any team that is interested is going to check with Ben's camp before seriously negotiating. I 100% agree that if you get a cold shoulder from Ben or his agent, the current ongoing mess is going to make you much less likely to want to take that risk (unlike say Toronto trading for Kawhi without knowing what he'd do after his contract ended.)

Simmons has 3.9 years left on his contract. He has zero leverage where he can go.

That’s what people have to understand

This isn’t a 2 year situation like kyrie (cavaliers) or harden

This isn’t. A one year situation like AD/Leonard.

This is why Simmons and klutch are close to being out of options having tried the mental illness angle.

Simmons can have 10 years on his contract. At the end of the day, no team is gonna pay anything more than a pittance if they dont like where Simmons head is at with regards to being on their squad. No team wants to pay to have the Sixers problem, so ya, Simmons kinda has say in where he goes.

Fortunately tho, it's been leaked that he's cool with anywhere but Philly

The end game is looking like Simmons will get his contract voided and basically will be prevented from playing in the NBA for 4 years remaining in his contract. That will also do a number to Klutch for sure.

[Phreak50]

They really should trade Ben at this point. The situation isn't improving, and the longer this goes on the more it will drag his value down.

This is a myth. GMs don't think like that. His value is what it is. Until he plays it won't change good or bad.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

I'm sure multiple teams have dropped out of the negotiations.

Who wants to trade for a guy who may run to the players union and cry mental health issues when the going gets tough?

[CptCrunch]

Ben isn't willing to see the Sixers medical professionals, but ok to see his own? Unaccpptable when $31 million a season is involved.
If he's legit having a mental breakdown then je's have no problem seeing the Sixers medical staff.

Having to meet with team physician is harming Simmons' mental health.

Don't see Sixers ever winning this one in arbitration if challenged. They cannot prove that Simmons is not suffering from mental health issues.

Of course, I do think Simmons / Rich Paul is faking this whole mental health episode.

So he has to see their therapist? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds. Especially after all the leaks during this process and the obvious conflict of interest.


Like the poster above said..I think a lot of these sentiments are based on jealously and discontent with their own work situations

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

That is part of the CBA provision, but being forced to see a team selected health care professional is likely not going to fly in court if Rich Paul really want to escalate this. It is absurd to require any athlete to use physician services provided by the team.

From my perspective, if Rich Paul can get a friendly psychiatrist to state that Simmons has some mental health issues or if Simmons any genuine issues, then Morey is dead stuck. Literally the opinion of any Sixers/league doctors doesn't matter.

[DroseReturnChi]

hes mentally ill wtf.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Ben too lazy to show up at a psychologists office so he can provide proof of the mental health disability he is claiming?
No wonder dude can't shoot or show up in the playoffs, he can't even show up for his own scam
Thought he could just party and keep collecting them game checks

[sikma42]

Yeah this is the difference between coming up with some dumb strategy with your buddies versus trying to execute said strategy to screw over a multi-billion dollar organization.

And maybe he is suffering from mental issues for all we know, still gotta show the proof and work with the organization if you want the checks to come. Pretty simple.

Simmons has been seeing the NBA therapist for several months, so when this goes to court (of law) he'll simply provide the mental health report, but he should never willingly share it with the Sixers. You know their history of mismanaging Fultz and Zhaire.....you can never trust the Sixers, and even less in this situation. And if he shares the mental health report the Sixers will probably leak bits and pieces anonymously to the media to create a false narrative with lines taken out of context....

I doubt the Sixers are asking to see his "mental health report," whatever the hell that is. They're simply asking for updates on his status and he isn't providing them, bc he's a ****, for a lack of a better word. Morey has been playing hardball with him and Klutch this entire time, he eased up when they brought in the mental health angle, but if you're gonna return to ghosting me and not thinking you need to let me know where the hell you are and what you're doing when you're supposed to be getting treatment, then you're not getting paid. I'm sure he'll pick up the phone now.

The only updates they should get:

- Ben is receiving this style of therapy for [insert diagnosis]. He is coming for the recommended number of treatments per wee. The recommendation not to play for is still in effect.

Thats all the information he should give. Article said he was seeing NBAPA mental health professionals so I’m sure he is getting help.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[CIN-C-STAR]

Ben isn't willing to see the Sixers medical professionals, but ok to see his own? Unaccpptable when $31 million a season is involved.
If he's legit having a mental breakdown then je's have no problem seeing the Sixers medical staff.

So he has to see their therapist? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds. Especially after all the leaks during this process and the obvious conflict of interest.


Like the poster above said..I think a lot of these sentiments are based on jealously and discontent with their own work situations

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

That is part of the CBA provision, but being forced to see a team selected health care professional is likely not going to fly in court if Rich Paul really want to escalate this. It is absurd to require any athlete to use physician services provided by the team.

From my perspective, if Rich Paul can get a friendly psychiatrist to state that Simmons has some mental health issues or if Simmons any genuine issues, then Morey is dead stuck. Literally the opinion of any Sixers/league doctors doesn't matter.

Yeah I'd think it wouldn't be too hard to find a psych to say whatever he wants for the right amount of $ too, but he has to actually do it.
This seems to be a case of him not wanting to actually do it when it's obvious that's what he needs to do (just like shooting 3s).

[kuclas]

Any team that is interested is going to check with Ben's camp before seriously negotiating. I 100% agree that if you get a cold shoulder from Ben or his agent, the current ongoing mess is going to make you much less likely to want to take that risk (unlike say Toronto trading for Kawhi without knowing what he'd do after his contract ended.)

Simmons has 3.9 years left on his contract. He has zero leverage where he can go.

That’s what people have to understand

This isn’t a 2 year situation like kyrie (cavaliers) or harden

This isn’t. A one year situation like AD/Leonard.

This is why Simmons and klutch are close to being out of options having tried the mental illness angle.

Simmons has zero leverage, except if he's willing to set fire to everything around him. It's not that I think Simmons is pulling strings of any sort, but what team is going to want to pony up huge assets for a guy who clearly presents some risk if you trade for him?

He is obviously more than willing to cut off the nose to spite the face.

Than he sits and not get paid.

Pretty simple. He and Klutch will fight it tooth nails. And they will keep losing this battle.