The specter of this saga haunts Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers
Ramona ShelburneESPN Senior Writer ON ANOTHER NIGHT, in another context, the sight of Ben Simmons working out after hours at the Philadelphia 76ers' practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, wouldn't be of note.
Simmons lives about 15 minutes away from the team's headquarters, and as a member of the team he's free to work out there any time he wants.
But this was not just any night. This was a game night, and the Sixers were in the midst of an important homestand at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. But instead of being on the court with his teammates as they went 12-3 in January and rose to within half a game of first place in the Eastern Conference, Simmons was 20 minutes away, working out with his personal team of trainers, trying to stay ready in case he is traded to a new team.
By all accounts, he is in great physical shape. But according to sources close to Simmons and within the Sixers organization, he continues to tell the team and those who represent him that he is not mentally ready to get back on the court again. Not now and not ever in Philadelphia.
It has been seven months since he asked the Sixers to explore a trade for him and nearly four months since he returned to Philadelphia. He has not meaningfully participated in a practice or even a film session since. He has just been there: in body but never in spirit.
Editor's Picks
2022 NBA trade deadline: Latest buzz, news and reports
4dESPN.com
NBA Power Rankings: Philly rises, Phoenix makes history
19h
76ers' Embiid, once 50-1, now favorite to win MVP
4dDavid Bearman
He has worked out separately with his own group of trainers, according to sources close to Simmons. He has organized his own runs with local players. He has lifted weights at a local fitness club that's open to the general public. He has seen his own therapist but hasn't shared information about his treatment with the team. He's living in the Moorestown, New Jersey, house he put up for sale months ago.
Everything he has done has been apart from the Sixers. But now, just under two weeks before the Feb. 10 trade deadline, Ben Simmons is working out at the facility again. There is no ulterior motive. When it's empty, the Sixers' practice court is probably the safest place for Simmons. Every other location where he has trained eventually gets leaked. And until he is traded, those close to him say he wants no attention. No cell phone cameras. No crowds.
The most recent event that pushed him back to the Sixers' facility, a source says, was when a photo of him playing in a 5-on-5 run with local guys and former NBA players like Dion Waiters and Dionte Christmas at East Cherry Hill (New Jersey) High was posted on social media.
The image did not go viral. It was just in the Instagram stories of a former Temple University player named Semaj Inge, who has 3,187 followers.
But Simmons saw it and knew it was only a matter of time before he'd be scrutinized again by the curious or the circus.
WHEN THIS SCHISM began last summer, no one on either side thought it would last this long or cost each side as much as it has.
So much time has passed that it's easy to forget what started the standoff in the first place. Fourteen months ago, there were the trade discussions with Houston about swapping Simmons for then-Rockets star James Harden. Then there was his playoff meltdown in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks in June, and the critical postgame comments from coach Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid.
There's more, if anyone needs a full accounting -- past slights that have become magnified with the passage of time.
According to sources close to Simmons, he's upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season's playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid's poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He's frustrated that Rivers didn't come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer.
Simmons doesn't dispute that he didn't reply when Rivers texted and called him several times over the summer asking to see him. But in hindsight, Simmons feels Rivers and the Sixers could've done more, like show up at a well-known gym in the San Fernando Valley where he was training.
He's also skeptical, sources close to him say, of Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey's willingness to trade him because of his previous pursuit of Harden -- who can become a free agent this summer. Simmons would be the best player the Sixers would send in any theoretical trade. And he's upset that the organization is fining him so heavily after he raised mental health as an issue upon his return.
Rich Paul, Simmons' agent, had spent weeks in the fall trying to convince the three-time All Star to fly back to Philadelphia, as a show of good faith.
Simmons did not want to go, under any circumstances.
NBA Trade Machine
Want to forecast where your favorite NBA stars could wind up? Create your own deals with ESPN's Trade Machine.
But according to sources with knowledge of the conversation, Paul told Simmons that while he understood Simmons wasn't mentally ready to get on the court, because of the four years remaining on his contract, they simply had no leverage if he didn't at least return to the team.
Simmons said he understood. And when his older brother, Sean Tribe, agreed with Paul, the decision was made to fly back to Philadelphia. To Simmons, this was a grand gesture of good faith. To the Sixers, it was a surprise (no one let them know in advance Simmons was coming), and the least a player under contract could do.
There will forever be debate about the intentions behind Simmons' return to the team. There are people on both sides who believe that he was open to playing for the Sixers again at that point. There are also skeptics who think it was just a stunt designed to mitigate the millions he'd continue to lose.
Whatever the case, the return didn't go well.
He was offended, sources close to him say, that the Sixers still fined him for not playing in the final preseason game even after he rushed to arrive at the arena before tipoff. Whatever good faith he thought he was showing, it hadn't been appreciated.
Over the next few days, Simmons' meetings with team officials and staffers were short and unproductive, according to sources. But eventually Simmons opened up, telling management, coaches and his teammates that he did not feel mentally ready to play. The team immediately shifted its posture toward supporting him. Tobias Harris spoke publicly about how meaningful it was for Simmons to confide in his teammates. Embiid even told the Wells Fargo Center crowd on opening night that, "I urge you guys to continue to support us and our teammate Ben because he's still our brother."
But the goodwill didn't last long. Simmons refused the mental health services offered by the team, instead telling the Sixers he was seeing a mental health professional he'd found through the National Basketball Players Association but wasn't comfortable sharing details.
The Sixers were in a difficult position. It's standard practice for players to see their own specialists, outside of the team doctors. But it's also standard practice for those outside doctors to update the team on their diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
Everything reached a boiling point on Oct. 19. Simmons was scheduled to speak to the media after practice. It was a contractual obligation, and Simmons had agreed to it. However he did not engage in any preparation with the team's public relations staff, with whom he'd previously enjoyed strong relationships. Instead he talked through what he intended to say with those in his camp. According to sources close to Simmons, his message would be simple:
I'm not in a great place mentally. I don't feel comfortable playing in this environment and I'm looking forward to a change of scenery.
Except, Simmons never did deliver that message. Earlier that day, Rivers had asked him to engage in a practice drill. Simmons refused and was promptly sent home. A short time later, he was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.
SIMMONS HAS LOST over $19 million in fines since the season began (each missed game costs him $360,000). He hasn't cleared a paycheck since the $8.25 million (25% of his $33 million salary) that was due to him Oct. 1. Every two weeks the team sends a notice with an explanation of all the fines he has accumulated for failing to render services, instead of a $1.375 million paycheck. By the end of the season, if he does not play for the Sixers or any other team, Simmons could lose another $12 million.
It is a staggering amount of money. Everyone involved assumes this issue will eventually be settled in arbitration. But those close to Simmons, who has earned upward of $60 million over his career, insist his decision to demand a trade and then not to play until he is traded has never been financially motivated. He wants a fresh start, away from a franchise he doesn't feel comfortable playing for anymore.
"We don't give a f--- about the money," one source close to Simmons says. "That's not what this is. It's hard for people to understand. But if you believe in what you're doing and that this is not the right situation for you, and you're trying to get to a better place, the money doesn't matter. Obviously it's a financial hit. But you adjust."
Said another source close to Simmons, "It's easy to tell when someone is hurt when they have a cast on their arm. But this is mental health. You can't always see it. But ask yourself, how many people would lose a dollar over this? That should tell you everything."
For Philadelphia, the impasse is damaging in other ways -- the potential of wasting one of the best seasons of Embiid's career, the current favorite to win MVP.
As holdouts go, it is unprecedented in NBA history in terms of its length and cost. The Sixers have studied all of them, sources say, trying to glean some insight into how to solve the situation with Simmons -- other than to trade him. They found the best comparison in the NFL, when star running back Le'Veon Bell refused to play the entire 2018 season over a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That holdout never actually ended, however. Bell just forfeited the 2018 season and signed a $52 million deal with the New York Jets before the 2019 season. Simmons still has three years and $114 million remaining on his contract after this season and continues to tell the team and those who represent him that he is not mentally ready to play again.
Both sides have publicly and privately admitted they've made mistakes along the way. Both have vowed to meet again if a trade does not materialize by the Feb. 10 deadline, according to sources.
But for now, Simmons and the Sixers are stuck together, and yet further apart than ever.
76ers center Joel Embiid is the current favorite to win MVP as Ben Simmons continues to sit out this season. Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
EVERY NIGHT AROUND 10 p.m., Simmons receives the team schedule for the next day. He shows up to shootarounds and film sessions when and where he's required to, according to a source close to him, to avoid getting fined for missing the team activity. But he rarely stays long or engages with anyone.
The COVID-related protocols that created an artificial boundary between Simmons and the team are no longer an issue. As an unvaccinated player, he had to take a daily COVID-19 test in order to enter the facility. But that requirement was dropped after sources say Simmons chose to get vaccinated.
The first few months back in Philadelphia, sources say, he worked out privately, with his own trainers, at nearby Saint Joseph's University. Former Sixers assistant coach Billy Lange, now the head coach of the Hawks, helped him find a place to train away from the spotlight. But when photos of Simmons working out at Saint Joe's made their way onto social media, he decided to find other places around the city to train.
He didn't have to, of course. Everything he needed was available to him at the Sixers' facility. But he didn't feel comfortable there, so he went elsewhere.
It was wildly inconvenient and inefficient. He'd be playing in one gym, lifting weights elsewhere and reporting to the team facility all in the same day.
"It was a huge pain in the ass," a source close to Simmons says.
The Sixers believe Simmons can and should return to play for the team, not just because he's under contract but because his skill set -- elite defense and playmaking -- is exactly what they need.
Some within the organization believe Simmons has built his return up so much, the reality would be nothing compared to what he's imagined it to be.
ESPN Daily podcast
Monday through Friday, host Pablo Torre brings you an inside look at the most interesting stories at ESPN, as told by the top reporters and insiders on the planet. Listen
"He'd get booed for a few games, but if he played well everyone would get over it," one team source says. "The fans booed Joel and Tobias [Harris] too, and they both got through it."
Others doubt Simmons would ever be able to face the home crowd.
"No," says another team source. "It's too far gone with both the fans and how he feels about the organization."
Nothing about Simmons' behavior since reporting to the team after training camp has suggested he wants to return to the Sixers. He has been disengaged, but not disruptive.
If anything, he seems to have gone out of his way not to be a distraction since the day Rivers threw him out of practice for refusing to participate in a drill.
"He's there, but it's almost like you don't notice him anymore," a team source says. "The team has moved on. We're focused on games. It's a really good group ... Nobody wants this to be a big distraction."
TWELVE DAYS AGO, Morey gave an interview to local radio host Mike Missanelli that was part revelatory and part confessional.
Rarely does a team executive admit publicly that there are specific trades with specific teams (Sacramento Kings) that his team would accept. Or that he has made mistakes in the handling of a situation.
"I think everyone needs to look in the mirror. I know I look at the mirror, with myself," Morey said. "What could I have done better? Could I have established a better relationship with Ben? I would say, yes."
What he means is this: Embiid and Morey have similar personalities and developed a strong rapport early on. Both are chatty when they're comfortable with the social situation. Both will reach out to talk to someone when conflict arises.
Simmons is quieter, and he'll get even more so when conflict arises. He had a preexisting relationship with GM Elton Brand, a former Sixers forward who quickly rose up through the front office after retiring in 2016 because of his intelligence and social skills. So Morey left it at that.
He didn't build his own relationship with Simmons, which is one of the reasons there has been such a lack of trust since the situation began to fray.
"As anyone knows, who's dealing with a difficult situation like we are, you don't make progress without first having a foundation of dialogue," Morey said in the radio interview. "I think action comes from dialogue ... and that's where we've gotten to. We need to continue that, and hopefully, those get us somewhere. We shall see."
That dialogue has mostly been in conversations with Simmons' agent, Rich Paul. But recently, especially since Simmons has been training at the facility again, there have been more direct conversations with him, though Morey said they've so far been unproductive.
"I can tell you for sure that those conversations have not progressed."
The NBA on ESPN and the ESPN App
Wednesday, Feb. 2
Grizzlies at Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
Nuggets at Jazz, 10 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 4
76ers at Mavericks, 10 p.m.
All times Eastern
There have been a few scattered meetings; Morey has canvassed the league looking for trades; Simmons has trained to stay ready in case he is traded.
In many ways, he has already moved on. He still lives with his Italian mastiff, Bane, in the house he'd originally hoped would be a forever home in Philadelphia, although he put it up for sale months ago. He also recently proposed to his fiancée, British television personality Maya Jama.
Even so, for however much he says he doesn't want to be in Philadelphia, for all the slights -- real and perceived -- he holds against the franchise, Simmons watches every game, sources close to him say.
"At the end of the day, it's still his team," a source says. "And he still wants to play."