Ben Simmons has now managed to get paid by two teams to not play a single minute during the 2021-22 season.
From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Brooklyn Nets All-Star guard Ben Simmons and his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, reached a settlement agreement on the grievance Simmons filed to recoup a portion of the nearly $20 million withheld from him as a result of his failure to play games in the 2021-22 season, sources told ESPN on Monday. Both sides agreed to confidentiality on the exact financial settlement reached, sources said.
(…)
Philadelphia had repeatedly insisted that Simmons was in breach of his contract under the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and NBPA and had the right to recoup the money advanced to him before the season. After Simmons made a trade request, the 76ers maintained Simmons breached his player contract upon failing to show up for the start of training camp and refusing to play during the preseason and regular season.
Simmons arrived in Philadelphia near the end of preseason but cited his mental health as the reason his participation in team activities was so limited. The 76ers and Simmons disagreed over the degrees of access that the team and its doctors were allotted to Simmons to diagnose and affirm his mental health, sources said.
The mental health aspect to the saga has particularly roiled the fine folks in Philadelphia. Not because there is an insensitivity to this issues, but because Simmons seemingly brought that claim up mid-stream, and only after he was kicked out of practice by Sixers coach Doc Rivers.
Anyway, Simmons got paid. And according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, he is ready to go!
I ran into Ben Simmons and he said this.. pic.twitter.com/kLjhRu6OW4
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 15, 2022
I would love to be a fly on the wall whenever Stephen A. runs into an NBA player who he has absolutely destroyed on national television. It must be a magic moment every time.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
