Ben Simmons and the 76ers have been at quite the impasse since *checks watch* June when they lost game 7 to the Atlanta Hawks.
Everything has pretty much been a mess since then. Simmons demanded a trade. The 76ers dangled him but couldn’t find a deal. Then they refused to move him. Then Simmons didn’t show up for camp. Then he joined the team and caused chaos.
Now, we’re here. In a spot where both sides have done nothing to make this situation better or more workable for themselves or the other aggrieved party. They weren’t even speaking with each other.
Until now, anyway, apparently.
Simmons sat down with Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid, his teammates and management to talk about the situation and they all came to an understanding, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Sources: Ben Simmons spoke to Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid and entire 76ers team today and accepted everyone needs to take responsibility, including himself — but Simmons informed them all that he’s not mentally ready to play yet and needs time.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 22, 2021
Everything is alright now, I guess? Apparently, all it took was a conversation.
I don’t know. It’s easy to still be skeptical of this. Just yesterday, things seemed to be at a major standstill.
Daryl Morey spoke on the record about trading Simmons. Simmons pulled out a mysterious back injury. Then reports also leaked about Simmons faking the back injury and said he wasn’t mentally ready to play, which apparently ticked people in the organization off.
All of that was super uncomfortable and weird. It still is. And the quick recovery from that seems a bit strange. But, uh, apparently it’s a thing.
Hopefully, whatever conversation they had brings about a solution for both sides. It seems they’re on their way to that. Simmons still isn’t ready to play but he reportedly is, at least, willing to play.
And that, at the very least, is a start to making this so much less messy.
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