We’re no longer sure that the Philadelphia 76ers can navigate through the entire Ben Simmons drama and still field a championship-caliber team this season.
Philadelphia just suspended the three-time All-Star for its season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday for conduct detrimental to the team. It stemmed from the star guard refusing to take part in certain aspects of practice. In turn, head coach Doc Rivers told Simmons to just go home.
All of this comes on the heels of a drama-filled summer in which Simmons requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, only to report to training camp in its latter stages.
Now, according to this note from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia has fined the embattled Simmons a whopping $1.4 million for missing four preseason games. The report also noted that numerous fines have been levied in the guard’s direction due to missed practices, on-court workouts and meetings. Simply put, Simmons has not earned a single penny since reporting back in October 11.
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Philadelphia 76ers making a statement with Ben Simmons
It’s now becoming clear that Philadelphia’s brass is not going to sit back and cater to the three-time All-Star. It’s pretty much over everything. Apparently, that includes teammate Joel Embiid.
“At this point, I don’t care about that man, honestly. He does whatever he wants. That’s not my job,” the reigning NBA MVP finalist said. “I’m only focused on trying to make the team better, win some games, play hard every night and try to lead the guys that we have here.”
It just doesn’t seem sustainable in Philadelphia right now. These Sixers are about to enter a season in which there’s false hope of contention. Having this drama surround the organization can’t be seen as a good thing.
And in reality, we have absolutely no idea how Simmons is going to react to the suspension and fines. We do know that something akin to a statement will be coming from his agents over at Klutch Sports. Take that to the bank, something Simmons himself can’t say.
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