Getty Ben Simmons (left), Sixers
Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons turned into a villain the day he lollygagged it at practice. To be fair, negative opinions started to pile up following that crazy missed dunk opportunity in the postseason. It’s been a long and tiresome seven months.
Simmons continues to claim he suffers from mental health issues and refuses to suit up for the Sixers. He has missed 50 games so far this season as Philly soars up the Eastern Conference standings. They don’t miss him one bit. And Simmons has now been fined $19 million, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, and hasn’t cleared a paycheck since $8.25 million was due to him on October 1. He could lose another $12 million if the stalemate continues.
Shockingly, Simmons doesn’t care about the money. Sources told Shelbourne: “We don’t give a f*** about the money. 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.”
Joel Embiid finished January with 476 points in 450 minutes, good for 1.058 points per minute.
Over the last 25 seasons, the only players with a higher points per minute in a calendar month are (min. 300 minutes):
Stephen Curry (Feb. 2016)
James Harden (Jan. & Nov. 2019)
Simmons is being fined $360,305 per missed game. Multiply that by 82 regular-season games and you get $29.5 million in fines. Yikes. That total will only increase since the Sixers are poised for meaningful playoff basketball, with the potential for 28 more games if Philly made a best-of-seven championship run.
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Simmons Changes COVID-19 Vaccination Status
Another interesting nugget from Shelburne had to do with Simmons’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The 25-year-old had chosen to go the Kyrie Irving route and stayed unvaccinated until he got sick of daily testing.
“The COVID-related protocols that created an artificial boundary between Simmons and the team are no longer an issue,” Shelburne wrote. “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.”
Ben Simmons has lost over $19 million in fines since the season began and could lose another $12 million by the end of the season, per @ramonashelburne
“‘We don’t give a f*ck about the money,’ one source close to Simmons says”
Simmons has been reporting to shootarounds and film sessions, according to Shelburne, but “he rarely stays long or engages with anyone.” He still resides in the Philly area, at the Moorestown, New Jersey home he put up for sale in October. And his agents continue to point to mental health issues for his absence from games.
Sixers Expect Simmons Back After Trade Deadline
The NBA trade deadline is less than 10 days away: February 10, 2022. Following news that the Sacramento Kings have bailed on a Simmons’ deal, it looks increasingly likely that the disgruntled Aussie will continue to ride the pine. He won’t play in Philly or anywhere else this year, although it’s not the outcome the Sixers want.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers are holding out hope that “somehow they can convince Ben Simmons to return.”
Wojnarowski said: “I don’t think it’s an expectation that it’s going to happen, but it is still a hope in Philly. Listen, I think they need to be prepared that he’s going to sit out the season, and he needs to be prepared for the fact that they may not find a trade for him until at least the summer.”