For the first time since the 2020 playoffs, Ben Simmons has spoken out in detail in an interview. In doing so, the NBA star didn’t leave a good hair on his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers.
“It was dark times for me,” Simmons confessed on J.J. Redick’s podcast The Old Man and the Three. “I wanted to come back and I had all these things thrown at me, which wasn’t very helpful. At the same time, that’s what I needed: Help.” We are sure with the change of the team everything will be fine with the player, go to sports betting odds and bet on the next matches with his participation in teams with a new squad.
Simmons directed his words primarily to his former coaches, but also to various teammates, while also emphasizing that he was supported by some teammates as well.
A heated argument had erupted between the 76ers and the point guard after Simmons was branded a scapegoat in his view after the 2020 playoffs.
Simmons is thrown out of the hall
As a result, the 26-year-old stayed away from training camp and preseason games but returned for two practice sessions in the interim. At one of them, however, coach Doc Rivers kicked him out of the gym.
“I wanted to do the right thing,” Simmons explained about his practice comeback at the time. “I talked to Doc before practice and told him I wasn’t ready, especially mentally.” According to Simmons, Rivers insisted Simmons would go along, later kicking the player out because Simmons wasn’t training to the coach’s liking.
“I figured you don’t do things like that. That was pure intent and that’s how it felt. It felt like he was trying to embarrass me,” Simmons lamented. “I was penalized for not lifting weights. Yet I was one of the strongest players on the team. I was constantly punished for little things.”
Simmons admits mistakes
He certainly made mistakes during that time, “but so did the team and the people who have a say in the franchise,” Simmons added.
The playmaker later complained of mental problems and did not play a game in the regular season, but he waived help from Philadelphia doctors. The Sixers insisted that the player had repeatedly violated the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and stopped paying him. In court, Simmons received at least part of the withheld $20 million through a compromise.
Meanwhile, the upcoming season represents a fresh start for Simmons. He was sent to the Brooklyn Nets via trade in February but has yet to play a game for them because of a back injury. “It’s going to be really cool, I can’t wait,” the guard announced.
