What a wanker.
Simmons I mean not the OP.

What a prick, and since we're clarifying I mean Simmons not the poster above.

I hope Ben gets sent somewhere other than California which is where he wants to go.

Dr No J behaving like a child. Trade him with Orlando for a towel or a water cooler, something useful.

Rubbish. Not any posts above, just Simmons' attitude.

Who is advising this guy? Makes him more disliked in Philly and elsewhere, further degrades his reputation, lowers his stock more, although that might be the plan. Again takes the mentally weak option. Again does the opposite of what is best for his development.

I love that Simmons will probably be forever known as the diva who caused the NBA to clamp down and fine the living crap out of players who do this. It's brilliant.

Klutch management are toxic. It's sad that they're apparently the only voice outside of his own family he seems willing to listen to.

He must have some seriously terrible influences in his life right now.

Dave Simmons was one of the hardest working, most unselfish, team oriented imports to ever grace our league and Ben carrying on the way he is makes no sense. You would imagine Ben had a great example to follow as a young bloke but has seriously gone off the rails.

For a country that loves to sue the ass off anything that moves, and I know it'd look bad for attracting great talent in the future, but they should sue him for breach of contract for something like 500 Mill, and a condition of them winning will be making him sit out for the duration remaining on the contract, without receiving any compensation. I'm sick of players in all professional sport treating their contracts like a piece of toilet paper!

I would not even trade our Washer and Dryer for him. I already did that to get Ed Monix anyway.

Its hardly surprising it came to this there is obvious bad blood between them. He's willing to take the hit with the fines and move on. How much are the fines for not showing up to camp? He can obviously afford it but as said above players shouldn't have any say in where they get traded after breaching their contract!

@Bol

Correct me if I am wrong guys, but I think on the 3rd or 4th day of absence, the Sixers can dictate how much the fine will be. They could ask for a million dollars per day if they wanted too. 

"the way Philly treated him was pretty shitty". Was it? The guy has been given hundreds of millions of dollars across five seasons and cant even shoot a jump shot. Any time anyone pulled him up on it, he'd refer them to his stats. His arrogance was his downfall and it came back to bite him. the 76ers have every right to "throw him under the bus" because he'd been asking for it for a long time. He couldn't even do the bare minimum to improve his game because in his own mind he was infallible.

As for what this does for his future, I don't think it's very good. It's one thing to not want to be a 76er anymore, and fair enough Philly would probably boo him for the rest of his career there anyway. But the way he's going about it - not keeping in contact, basically trying to strong arm them into trading him where he wants - is not going to bode well for future teams picking him up. I hope he gets sent to some shitty non-Califormian and non-Instagram chic city where he's stuck with a bunch of bumpkins and has to wear the downsides of his privileged attitude.

If he were any type of person he would wear the backlash he has caused and deserved, he would go to camp and would tru to justify the millions put into him. But that's not Ben Simmons.

Ben's getting everything he deserves from the media and Philly. he's entitled and privileged and unless he changes his attitude and management he's going to struggle to realize his potential on court and off.

This guy tells lies.

Goes on to claim "I'm going to be working on my 3s" every off-season.

Tinashe. 10. Maya Jama. 10.

No credibility.

Doesn't Klutch or his entourage tell him this is bad for his current value and future value?

Windhorst reported that Ben's contract is friendly, that he will be paid 2 x 25% before the season even starts, so he will already have $16m in his pocket leaving the other $16m to be 'fined' and 'threatened'.

If a new team takes his contract, they may be asked to waive the penalties and he ends up losing nothing but his reputation.

@Anon856

He had a sweet jumper and he helped us win the Flint Michigan Megabowl.

If it weren't for Father Pat, we would have finished higher. I should murder his family.

Whilst Simmons is a wanker I don't blame him from wanting out on philly as let’s not pretend they’ve exactly been upstanding citizens throughout this process either.

The issue that I see is saying stuff about how he’ll only play for certain teams as considering his playoff performances his value isn’t high at all, other good teams won’t want his attitude around and considering he refuses to shoot that then narrows the options of who he can play with in general.

If anything he needs to go to a garbage team and just dominate to show to the rest of the league he’s still a big time player. Especially since contending teams won’t be willing to give up much to get him.

I'd also like to bring up that initially philly tried to baby him, then they did things like assigned him shooting coaches and ask for him to shoot a three a game and that was just under Brett Brown. Then Doc comes in and tries to baby him again and it’s another failure.

If you’re a another team you’re gonna need respected vets/culture that can whip him into shape e.g. Lakers, Raptors, Warriors and Spurs (Lakers because if he doesn’t listen to Lebron then he’s a lost hope in regards to his behaviour) but even those teams aren’t looking to get him as the warriors have draymond, the raptors are trying to rebuild and they just drafted Scottie Barnes who’s basically draymond 2.0. So that leaves the Spurs with good young talent that could be used to trade and having pop will hopefully have him wake the fuck up but I could see even the Spurs not wanting to put up with him.

Sacramento could get a could deal just with their players and Minnesota too but both seem to be hesitant to do so.

So we’ll have to wait and see but will be an interesting result for sure

I hope this big chip on the shoulder is abounded my the nba.might get a gig at chelsea

And Mystro - no dont send him to Orlando.. thats my team and we dont want him :)

Would we all be hating on Simmons if he had gone to the olympics? It will be interesting to see if he gets any new
sponsorship opportunities here in Australia. I don't think he is all that marketable any more. Australians love our hard working and humble athletes, not a soft, lazy privileged brat that he has turned into.

Ben Simmons has been pandered every step of the way, from the Boomers bringing in David Patrick and then Brett Brown, to 76ers getting him shooting coaches. Long and short of it is the guy doesn't want to apply himself to anything he isn't already doing, be it learning to shoot a jump shot, or spending his summers not chasing Instagram thots. Would we be hating if he had played the Olympics? Well.. potentially, yes. He's wanted every team he's ever played on catered to him. His weaknesses may have been quite expensive for us at the Olympics and maybe it's better he didnt play. But his clear unwillingness to commit himself to the Boomers and to his own development, coupled with his supreme arrogance make him an extremely unlikeable and unmarketable person. His play and behaviour has completely tanked his trade value and now he's vimdictively making the 76ers wear it, and refusing to go to training camp if they don't. All that after all the work they'd put into him and all the money they spent. His attitude is a huge part of why his trade value is shot, with many teams not convinced he's going to get any better, because he doesn't believe he should have to. Ben Simmons is a comoplete and utter waste of talent and a jack ass, and it would give me warped satisfaction if he ended up at the Shanghai Sharks

"And Mystro - no dont send him to Orlando.. thats my team and we dont want him :)"

I was a Magic fan as a kid, before Shaq, Penney Hardaway ect.

Dwight Howard wrecked that forever so that train wreck of a franchise deserves Ben Simmons.

Lovebroker - we have Fultz, Anthony, Suggs, Hampton we dont need Simmons... we are young and in the rebuild 3.0 I dont think getting Simmons would be ideal.

Guys, You should not be too hard on Simmons. He's still a rookie, after all.

Hehe, jokes aside. I wonder what he will end up with? Value has tanked for him. I saw this video a week ago. It summed things up well.

Anon, the Magic were created in 89' and Dwight didn't arrive until like 04/05 and was alright until he demanded VanGundy go in 2012.

Nick Anderson & Scott Skiles were the guys at the Magic when I first became a fan.
Then Shaq & Penney Hardaway followed by TMAC came and bought some excitement but it never amounted to a title but still good times.

Mystro - for me I have been a Magic fan since Shaq... fav Orlando player of all time for me is Turkoglu though.

Back to Ben - if Portland start off slow and Dame demands a trade, Portland might go be candidates to get him?

TMac is my favourite Magic player followed by Shaq and Rashard Lewis and Michael Pietrus.
First NBA Jersey I ever got was Shaq Orlando in the black with the vertical stripes.
Cool era across the league, sick jerseys and heaps of cool players.
Charlotte were probably my second favourite team with Lj, Bogues, Gill & Mourning.

What a great pair Simmons and garbage

Anon - he has definitely worked for it, to even crack the NBA let alone be a number 1 pick shows he worked for it... you dont just wake up an NBA player. On top of that he is a top 5 defensive player in the league.

He has a hole in his game that he is reluctant to work on or at the least reluctant to attempt to work on during games... but to say he hasnt worked for it is a bit of a stretch.

Number 1 draft pick
One of the best defenders in the league
Rookie of the year

This has nothing to do with Brett Brown

The sooner that the NBA will stop bothering actual residents of citys like Philadelphia and NewYork
with basketball when NewYork is primary concern baseball and Philadelphia being, inexplicably,
American-rules-rugby town, that will mean D.C. and Baltimore may continue being a premier
destination for basketball players on teams in America.

The NBA is needlessly creating a monetary scheme in a basketball game, it makes sense to avoid
training camp when similar games can be played for free, and a functionally equivalent paycheck
could be earned on the internet, as it stands. There will always be some NBA employees on the
basketball court, and, some basketball players employed by the NBA.

It's irrational to continue playing basketball for a paid expense after a player has nothing
to prove on a hardwood floor that couldn't alternatively be proven on a blacktop for free.
Demonstrably it's just my opinion of course, has nothing to do with any actual explaination about
the statement made regarding the 76ers. The 87ers will be a clear segway in this pattern.

https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/ben-simmons-turns-away-sixers-teammates-wants-out-of-philly-20210925.html

Ben's value is lowering by the day it seems. If Philly are to trade him, they're going to end up witha lot less in return than they'd originally bargained for - and that's why the renewed push to have him on the team. Let's face it, they don't want Ben Simmons, they just don't want what they can get for him even moreso. What I am wondering is, is there a situation where Ben isn't traded, refuses to play for Philly, Philly refuse to give him up for a washing machine, and Ben doesn't play in the NBA next season?

After their experience with Allan Iverson years ago, very similar to Ben, I would expect the Sixers to hold their tough line in the hope that Ben backs down and gives them what they want.

It seems he's also implied that he wouldn't play games where his new team were returning to play in Philadelphia. Seems remarkably petty and a bit fragile?

Fascinating though.

I assume there is a mental health aspect to this, which tempers my judgement a bit. That said, he is being extraordinarily well paid to work, and mental health doesn't completely excuse lacking the willingness to work with a team largely trying to help you.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a reality where Simmons doesn’t play next season.

At some point, Adam Silver gonna have to stop being everyone's goofy uncle and actually take some action on behalf of the league. Stern wouldn’t have stood for these kind of shenanigans, he ain’t about that life.

People act like he's immediately turned into a hapless player. He's still very capable. He's still a physical prototype of a basketball player. And he can shoot, just overrun mentally by yips when the focus is on him.

A very sad case,but,might fit in at Chelsea.they would accept his attitude

It's not that he’s hapless or untalented, just that he’s mentally gone and it doesn’t look like he can handle the scrutiny of being a pro baller. Word is that if he is traded, when his potential new team plays in Philly, he won’t be.

Remember when Vince left Toronto, or when (a somewhat flaky to critique) LeBron left Cleveland (the first time), at least they fronted up to their former-fans despite the animosity the diehards directed their way.

I’m sure some team will talk themselves into Simmons though, and at some point Philly will cut their losses accept $0.15 on the dollar just to be done with the drama.

Just remember we were expected Simmons to be an MVP-level player (think Giannis’ development year-on-year), but I have the feeling he’ll be consigned to the "wasted potential" column.

If there's any truth to the rumour that Simmons would refuse to play in Philadelphia even while on another team, it's just craziness.

This entire saga is just nuts. For a player with suspect mental toughness, he's getting some of the worst advice possible. Now every second NBA analyst is calling him "scared". It's putting him under an even greater microscope, putting him under even more pressure whenever he gets back on an NBA team.

With all this media attention, and more fans talking shit about him, he's going to become even more subject to taunts, everywhere he plays, not just in Philly. This is the kind of behaviour that damages the reputation of a player for their entire career. If there was any doubt before, it's confirming his mental weakness.

Simmons is a quiet, introverted guy. He'd be hating this kind of negative attention.

With regular talk about Klutch in these stories, you have to wonder how much influence Klutch is having in shaping this saga. I just can't see how any of this is going to benefit Simmons.

ast week

He must have some seriously terrible influences in his life right now.

Dave Simmons was one of the hardest working, most unselfish, team oriented imports to ever grace our league and Ben carrying on the way he is makes no sense. You would imagine Ben had a great example to follow as a young bloke but has seriously gone off the rails.


He was a mediocre player that made big here, like a lot of imports , but he's had stars in his eyes re his son since juniors , puff enough hot air up someone’s tail end and they will eventually blow up

Simmons is a brat that’s been enabled by his family and hyped up half baked social media here , only got to look at his behaviour at crown casino to see his true character
But with his millions safely tucked away he really doesn’t have to care does he

I'd trade for him, for sure. Ask him where he is now, where he wants to be. Get him to realise the best route to that future. Put 3-5 trainers/psychologists in his daily team mix (with his knowledge) and get him to pick his favourite by the end of some period, then have them work with him going forward. There's enough money at stake to put in serious effort to maximise his return, and loads of time in an NBA regular season to experiment. Give him minutes with a second unit to build shooting confidence against weaker opponents, etc.

I hope he ends up under Kerr or Pop who are both likely to be careful guides, while appreciating what he is already doing on court by default.

If Philly fans didn't hate him (much) before now, they certainly will the longer this saga goes on. No wonder he won’t play there.

Meanwhile, Klutch seems to be following the 'any publicity is good publicity’ principle.


What a soap opera - it’s almost like watching Kardashian sh*t. Oh, wait, wasn’t he part of the ‘family’ for a while? It starts to make sense now.

Apparently Ben is willing to sit out the whole year unless traded

Link

Surely there has to be some mental illness driving these decisions. It's getting a bit late to think a trade is on the cards - certainly not one the 76ers will happily take. And Ben is eroding his credibility with every passing day. i mean what team is going to dish out on a contract for him if this is how he deals with adversity? I just feel like this is going to go poorly in the long run for Ben on every level.

I have always thought the venom shown to Le Bron by the Cleveland fans when he returned in a Miani jersey was the hostile I had seen, but wow, can you imagine when Simmons returns to Philly for the first time as an opponent?

I can. But that's basketball. Some people will boo him. Some people will say mean things. They'll burn jerseys. They'll wave mean placards. But so what? It's not like he's going to be pelted with shit like what happens in Europe. And if the rumour is true that he doesn't want to play ANY games in Philadelphia... I mean... I am sorry but his career is basically over. Alarm bells would be sounding for every GM right now watching this unfold. Maybe him and Jonah Bolden can do a joint crypto venture together or something

Worried about Simmons skipping Philly games when Kyrie is currently set to miss more than half a season unless he gets vaccinated or there are policy changes at cities/arenas/league?

Missing a handful of games is at least easy to write off as load management, even if everyone knows exactly what's happening.

1) he's willing to miss the whole season
2) What is he going to do if he has to be in a playoff series aaginst Philly?

The difference between Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons is that Kyrie is a proven championship winner with proven value to teams and the league. Ben may be an all-star, but he's won nothing. He's an up-and-comer who has not reached his potential, but has some glaring weaknesses in his game that he seems unable to fix. He also has shown startling mental weakness and inability to deal with criticism and adversity. It's not the same as a player taking time off due to the covid jab. This is a player showing GMs that there is something fundamentally wrong with him - beyond Kyrie being a conspiracy theorist.

I reckon the Nets would trade a little bit of Kyries natural basketball talent for some intelligence

Nah but Kyrie is just misunderstood! Or something.

Yeah look I'm disappointed in how Simmons is handling this but let's not pretend it's a tactic he made up. The Sixers will eventually find a trade they're ok with, move him on and he'll go on to play another 10+ years in the NBA as one of the best defenders going around.

Is he LeBron? No. But literally nobody else is. He is, though, a very good NBA player.

I think everyone's just disappointed in Simmons attitude, which has been flagged since his days at LSU

Yeah, on Ben Simmons money he needs to have the potential to be a major piece of a championship team and/or a major piece in a team that pushes for it. He's not proven he can do that. Whatever deal Draymond Green is on is basically what Simmons should be getting until he proves otherwise.

If Simmons wants to miss games, he could've just said he wasn't going to get vaccinated. At worst, we'd just think he was a stupid conspiracy theorist, like all other Melbourne-born NBA number draft picks.

In the current NBA world, that's far better than being labeled scared, mentally weak, a cry-baby, fragile, unreliable.

*number 1 draft picks.

With no disrespect to anyone, I've wondered about Simmons having a mental illness &/or on the autism spectrum, crossed with the bad representation that Klutch is providing.

Asserting that he’s a pg. Reddick saying he’s like looking at us from behind glass. Not being close with team mates. Asserting that it’s okay to play defence & shut down on offence makes me wonder if he’s on the spectrum.

strinjun, there's definitely a mental health aspect.

The Kyrie conversation is interesting given there were stories just today about someone canvassing the trade value of Kyrie around the league and figuring it was just about zero.

And then, on the surface a Kyrie-Simmons trade might seem questionable, could each team actually improve? Kyrie on the 76ers isn't a shocking option - they take a hit on D, but that will happen with most trades.

Meanwhile, Simmons on the Nets has Patty able to step in during the fourth, plus Durant and Harden provide more than enough scoring to offset any quirks.

Probably the most disturbing discovery from that podcast is that he listens to audiobooks whilst taking naps. Truly bizarre.

"Probably the most disturbing discovery from that podcast is that he listens to audiobooks whilst taking naps."

I once scored 200 points in a quarter of basketball. I often do incredible things while napping. Sometimes I sleep!

Marks:

In the event Simmons skips all four of the 76ers' preseason games, Simmons will lose roughly $1.4 million in fines. If he's traded, for example, on Nov. 19 -- a month into the regular season -- he will lose roughly $7.2 million in salary.

This is not money Simmons can get back in the event Philadelphia eventually accedes to his wish to be traded. The team that chooses to trade for him cannot agree to pay Simmons the money he is owed in fines from Philadelphia. Instead, Simmons would only be able to get some, or all, of the fine money back by coming to a settlement with the 76ers, who would have no incentive to do so.

If Ben Simmons forfeits paychecks, that pay is gone and can't be recouped later under the contract. Contracts are certified as containing a specific dollar amount & rates of pay, and aren't paid if employee doesn't show up for work.

These players really live in such a land of privilege, where not being paid for work you havent done is somehow controversial. There's no justifiable reason why Ben should be paid for games and practices he hasn't shown for. He deserves to lose that money.

It's not controversial everyone on the planet understands that, as I'm sure Simmons factored all that in. He's already made enough money this season alone to live off of comfortably for the rest of his life.

This is just the NBA Media looking for clicks. If there is no news they've got to create it.

If there was ever going to be a professional athlete who was to be a test case for the limit of player power and their entitlement it may as well be Ben.

Interesting read:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/oct/05/ben-simmons-holdout-philadelphia-76ers-nba

Maybe, but The Guardian only seems to show up for basketball when there is a Cambage or Simmons drama to feast on...

Separately:

After receiving a big fine for missing last night's preseason game, sources say Ben Simmons' representation spoke to the players association and had it reiterated the money could not be recovered, a potential sign that the weight of a holdout is setting in

That's great news re: no recoverability.

Shouldn't he have made such enquiries before committing to not committing?

Woj:

Sources: Sixers were unaware Simmons was flying into Philadelphia today. The organization was in constant contact with agent Rich Paul, but Simmons simply showed up at arena to take his Covid test prior to Sixers-Nets tip -- and that's when team officials knew he was in town.

Yeah, all like "What did YOU guys do on your summer vacation?"

But seriously, what a giant tool... Very glad that Philly stood their ground, although I guess they would have traded him if there were any decent offers? Nice tail between your legs crawl back, Benji...

Whoever is giving Ben advice on how to conduct himself in a professional manner needs to be fired... Very glad that an entitled brat did not get what they wanted, even with a huge agency behind him...

Another turn in the Simmons drama:

Source says Ben Simmons met with Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey today. I'm told Ben is going through the process to rejoin the Sixers, including taking a physical.

I wouldn't be surprised if he never plays a game for the 76ers again and just fakes an injury until a trade happens. He'll start getting paid again and the fines would stop too.

Please Hoop Gods. Make it stop. Surely you can grant the Sixers Dame & Covington & we can all have a laugh about this one day #rtrs #ttp

Unbelievably, it's still going. Using his own doctors, not sharing progress (possibly required by his contract), now agreeing to meet with 76ers designated doctor, etc. Had some remote sympathies at varying points, but he really is tanking as much future value as possible in surprising new ways at each turn.

The 76ers meanwhile are doing quite well to start the season and a few players have expressed how positive an environment it has been (unspoken subtext: without him).

Ben Simmons believes the 76ers' tactics are worsening his mental health instead of supporting him, and want to deem him mentally fit in order to force him to play. Quotes from his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, and response from team officials

The only person talking about Jayden Brown in a Ben Simmons trade is Daryl Morey just before the Celtics GM hung up.
Then in a seperate call to Woj when he leaked it to try and keep Ben's trade value high.