Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers kicked Ben Simmons out of practice on Tuesday. Shortly thereafter, when the real reason for the drastic move leaked out, Philly suspended Simmons for one game.
In the 24 hours since Simmons’ clash with Rivers and subsequent punishment, a number of details have come out. One in particular stands above the rest.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the strained relationship between Simmons and the Sixers has manifested itself in his rather poor treatment of staff at the practice facility.
“People present at the scene say Simmons has simply come and gone inside the 76ers’ Camden, N.J., facility since returning to practice Sunday,” wrote Charania. “He enters the facility and ignores most 76ers staffers. For instance, when the 76ers’ security official greeted Simmons on Sunday, 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.”
Obviously Simmons is in a bad place with the Sixers. He feels they mistreated him. They feel like he has underperformed. He wants to be traded. They refuse to trade him for anything other than a star. He threatened to hold out. They put significant financial pressure on him and forced his return.
Everyone know how we got to this point and what needs to be done to fix it.
What remains clear, however, is that there is no excuse for being a bad sport when it comes to team staffers. It’s not their fault that the relationship between Simmons and Philly disintegrated.
Hopefully at some point someone will get into Simmons’ ear and tell him he’s coming off really badly right now. If they don’t, he may end up doing irreparable damage to his reputation.
More must-reads: