Ben Simmons has come under fire for his public behaviour, but a new report shows it is his antics behind the scenes that are most disappointing.
Ben Simmons has come under fire this week for his behaviour in public — but a new report shows it is his antics behind the scenes that are most disappointing
The Australian sent shockwaves across the NBA on Wednesday when he was sent home from the Sixers’ latest training session for refusing to participate in a defensive drill
It sparked a social media fire storm in which he was labelled “cancerous” by outspoken ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith.
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It comes a day after Simmons was at practice in trackpants with a phone in his back pocket before snubbing the team’s final huddle.
Simmons has been trying to force through a trade for months since officially requesting a trade in August. The team has been unable to source an attractive offer from rival teams and are refusing to let him go until a desirable offer is put on the table.
Also among the acts Simmons is being criticised for is his failure to show up for pre-season training and his reported refusal to speak to teammates, including All Star Joel Embiid, since the calamitous end to the team’s 2021 Playoffs run.
The latest drama on Wednesday was all too much for Embiid, who said it’s not his job to “babysit” anyone.
It has all painted a picture of Simmons becoming the exact villain the famously fickle Philadelphia fans have accused him of being.
The most inexcusable part of the 25-year-old’s behaviour has now been revealed in a staggering report which indicates Simmons’ stroppy behaviour extends to the entire Sixers organisation — including stadium staff and off-court employees.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday morning Simmons has snubbed the team’s staff and his teammates.
“People present at the scene say Simmons has simply come and gone inside the 76ers’ facility since returning to practice,” Charania wrote.
“He enters the facility and ignores most 76ers staffers. For instance, when the 76ers’ security official greeted Simmons on (Monday AEDT), the three-time All-Star just walked right by him. When others greet him, Simmons typically has given no response. It’s not a requirement for Simmons to talk to people inside the facility, but those present say he has been disengaged and not an active participant.
“Each day, Simmons trains by himself on his own side of the basketball court, shooting jumpers and free throws with rebounders.”
It would appear Simmons finally has the Sixers where he wants them. There has been no suggestion publicly that the Sixers will blink first and deal Simmons for a less than desirable trade package, but as the situation deteriorates it’s not unreasonable to think Sixers head of basketball operations Daryl Morey and coach Doc Rivers would trade Simmons for magic beans at this point.
‘Cancerous’ Simmons has got to go
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith took aim, saying “you’ve got to move him” because the longer this saga drags on, the more chance there is of Simmons ruining the 76ers’ seasons.
“Ben Simmons is sending a message to the Philadelphia 76ers, ‘I don’t want to be here, I don’t want any part of this’,” Smith said. “And he did it before he was due to address the media for the first time since demanding a trade out of Philadelphia.
“He doesn’t want to face the media. He doesn’t want to answer to the local fanbase. He doesn’t want to wear the 76ers uniform. He wants no part of this situation with the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Is he wrong? You’re damn right he’s wrong because it wasn’t the 76ers that did anything to him, he did it to himself — the man shoots 14 per cent from three-point range, he has no perimeter game to speak of. He’s great in every other way but not when it comes to that or free throw shooting. That’s on him, that’s not the fault of the Philadelphia 76ers fanbase or the 76ers organisation.
“Nevertheless he wants out. And because he wants out and a player of that magnitude has the ability to be a disrupter, dare I say, cancerous force on the team. He’s basically prioritising for the 76ers organisation that you’ve got to get me the hell up out of here as soon as you possibly can.”
Philadelphia Inquirer’s 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey said it was “a three-ring circus”, speaking to SEN on Wednesday morning.
“There are two ways of looking at it. The first way is that they (the 76ers) have been trying to make a deal and they couldn’t get what they wanted for equal value,” Pompey said.
“But then there are some people, and Ben probably feels the same way, who feel (the 76ers) were trying to make a deal, but asking for things they knew they couldn’t get like, ‘I want two players and three draft picks’.
“That’s why they’re in this predicament now.”
Pompey also said the city was keen for Simmons to leave.
“I’d have better luck walking down the street and finding $5 million on the kerb than Ben getting a warm reception in Philadelphia,” he added
“The people here really want him out, they’re tired of him.”
Pompey’s Philadelphia Inquirer colleague Marcus Hayes said Simmons has “zero value” and that the 76ers should make him earn his place on another team.
“Simmons never has been worth Damian Lillard, or Bradley Beal,” Hayes wrote. “Now, he’s not worth CJ McCollum. Heck, he’s not worth CJ McCollum’s jockstrap.”
‘Who wants a guy like that?’ Simmons his own worst enemy
At Sports Illustrated, Chris Mannix said the standoff has “passed the point of no return”.
“Even if you believed Philadelphia would welcome Simmons back into the locker room, there’s no going back now,” Mannix wrote. “It’s one thing to stay away from the team in the hopes of securing a trade. It’s another to try to sabotage it.
“The Sixers didn’t wrong Simmons. Simmons wronged them, and now the relationship, already tattered, is beyond repair.
“It’s war now between Simmons and the Sixers.”
Mannix also tweeted he had texted with a league executive who said: “When s**t goes south, this is how he reacts? Who wants a guy like that?”
ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski said the Sixers are still looking for a star player and that the team will drag their feet until they get one.
“The Sixers are willing to go the distance here on this. The one thing they insist they are not going to do is trade Simmons for role players,” Wojnarowski said on NBA Today.
“Ben Simmons can stay and if he doesn’t engage, the team is probably going to continue to fine him and it may not be getting him closer to a trade.
“There is still interest around the league in Ben Simmons but other teams know this is part of an act, this is a process Ben Simmons is going through to try accelerate a trade.”
The Athletic’s Derek Bodner added Simmons being disruptive at practice may not be enough to force a trade, but his mere presence may sabotage the team.
“The downside to Simmons being around the team is that he now has the chance to do much more damage to team morale than he did when he was secluded off in his Los Angeles home,” Bodner wrote.
“This instance alone may not put the Sixers over the tipping point, but things could become increasingly uncomfortable if this is an everyday occurrence.”
Even at home Simmons is copping it as SEN’s Gerard Whateley labelled him “petulant, recalcitrant, downright disrespectful”.
“Training with a phone in his pocket, refusing to take part in drills, openly defying 76ers coach Doc Rivers, told to leave the building and suspended,” he said.
“Is this the conduct of the man many would regard as Australia’s number one male athlete? How many excuses are we prepared to make for Simmons?”
Meanwhile, Boomers legend Chris Anstey compared Simmons to tennis brat Bernard Tomic and said the NBA star would live to regret his actions.
“There are so many things that you have to do in life where you have to suck it up and say I’ll be my best at a time when I don’t want to be,” Anstey told The Daily Telegraph.
“It is in Ben’s best interests to be at his best right now to increase his trade value.
“He just needs some better advice, whether it be from management or those close to him.
“And certainly, the advice should be to be the bigger person, plus he is only hurting himself because he hasn’t trained properly for months, and the financial stuff is a big hit.”
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