Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Simmons’ talk with teammates gives Sixers some peace … for now, at least
PHILADELPHIA » Ben Simmons’ first attempt to avoid playing for the 76ers this season was to hold out of training camp. That’s when he found out that the payroll department had other ideas.
Next, he decided to stagger through defensive drills in practice as if entirely disinterested, perhaps figuring that would keep Doc Rivers from using him in any meaningful situation. That’s when he was reminded that the head coach had the authority to eject him from the court and dock him a gamenight check.
Undaunted, Simmons was said to mumble something about a sore back, as good an excuse as any to take a night off in a league lacking the self-respect to demand that any player work 82 nights a year. Turns out, even in the load-management era, players reporting injuries are subject to cross-examination from medical sorts. Ouch.
Then came Friday, and the Sixers’ first real home game since that night last spring when Simmons chose not to dunk, Joel Embiid chose to make that an issue, Rivers chose not to declare him a championship-level point guard and the fans in the Wells Fargo Center chose to heckle him off the court.
For that, there would be one more play. And according to multiple credible reports, that play was for Simmons to gather his teammates around, admit to some recently flubbed responsibility and explain that he would not be mentally ready to report for duty in time for a 7:30 visit from the Brooklyn Nets.
Soon after, with the Sixers citing “personal reasons,” he was scratched from the game.
“It was,” Rivers declared, “a productive day.”
The Sixers intended to pay Simmons $30.6 million this season to produce assists, rebounds, some points around the basket and a three-point jumper once a month. Instead, the situation had so deteriorated that a day after Daryl Morey went to the franchise’s radio partner and said the situation with Simmons could take up to four years to resolve, the head coach was satisfied with the resumption of in-house talks among his preferred point guard and his teammates.
“Things do change,” Rivers said. “It doesn’t always mean that it is going to work out.”
Emotional issues are too serious to dismiss as a negotiating ploy by anyone but a qualified therapist. The details of Simmons’ struggle, and they could be limitless, might easily be lost in the day-long discussion. But a few teammates did take to the social channels to express their support, a suggestion that whatever he’d said was sufficient to
reduce some stress, at least for a night.
Georges Niang was designated to do the post-shootaround interview Friday and did not allow the situation to expand.
“The locker room is a sacred place, and I don’t really feel comfortable sharing our team business especially when it’s being addressed in the locker room,” the NBA veteran said. “Obviously, Ben addressed that today. But the locker room has always been a sacred place to me. What’s said and done in there, I don’t feel comfortable revealing.”
The particulars of Simmons’ struggle, however deep, are not
immediately relevant in a basketball sense. But his plea for patience did buy Rivers some valuable peace. The Sixers know they can’t win a championship with Simmons. Why? Asked and answered. That understood, Rivers was obligated to find out if Tyrese Maxey could be any better. And with the Sixers finally finding a way for Simmons to deal with his issues in quiet, they will not be as burdened with that distraction.
The questions about Simmons’ availability will not vanish, but they will be less persistent. And the Opening Night crowd, presumably miserable since that Game 7 loss to Atlanta, had a reason to focus on the active players, not the most visible inactive one.
“It’s a start,” Rivers said. “He is part of the team. We have certain rules. Obviously, the other day, that didn’t happen. But today was a good day.
“Most people look at problems instead of the possibilities. I think if we focus on the possibilities, just in life in general, you have a pretty good chance of going to a good place. If you focus on the problems, you’re probably going to continue to have problems.”
The Sixers still have problems. Simmons is No. 1 on the list. He has to be traded. And a widespread impression that he might be mentally unable to help a team is not going to boost his already low market value.
It could take a while. As Morey said, “buckle in.” But on a night when vile anti-Simmons chants were possible and the Sixers could have been dealing with suspensions and finger-points and the all-around misery that an unwilling player with $147 million left on his contract can spread, they had a few hours to focus on a basketball game against another contending Eastern Conference team. Productive, as the man said? All distractions considered, close enough.