Ben Simmons’ Grievance Has Major Implications For Disgruntled NBA Stars

One of the most important NBA storylines over the next few months won’t be taking place on the court at all.

This week, Ben Simmons filed a grievance to recoup the roughly $20 million of salary that the Philadelphia 76ers withheld prior to his trade to the Brooklyn Nets in February, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Bobby Marks and Adrian Wojnarowski. “The grievance—which will now go to an arbitration process—could have larger league implications amid future issues of mental health matters and NBA contracts,” they added.

If Simmons winds up winning back his money, he might establish a template for other disgruntled stars around the league to force their way off their current teams even if they’re on a long-term contract.

After Simmons collapsed in the Sixers’ second-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks last season, it became increasingly clear that he had played his last game for the franchise. He informed the team in late August that he “no longer [wanted] to remain” with the Sixers and did not intend to report to training camp in September, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. According to Wojnarowski, he told Sixers management that “he has no plans to wear an NBA uniform again” until they traded him.

However, Simmons didn’t have much leverage beyond a holdout. Heading into this season, he had four years and $147 million remaining on his contract. The Sixers were under no obligation to follow through on his trade request until they found a deal to their liking.

Simmons followed through on his holdout threat and did not report for training camp, and the Sixers responded by withholding the $8.25 million in salary he was owed on Oct. 1. They viewed his “refusal to report to training camp as not fulfilling the terms of his contract,” according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, and league-office personnel and players union officials appeared to confirm that interpretation to him.

The collective bargaining agreement states that if a player “fails ore refuses, without proper and reasonable cause or excuse, to render the services required” by their contract, his team can withhold a portion of his salary. The Sixers began fining Simmons roughly $360,000 for every preseason and regular-season game that he missed, which quickly began to add up.

Simmons eventually did report to the team after missing a handful of preseason games, but his “reluctance to physically and mentally engage” with the team became a “consistent theme,” according to Wojnarowski. The Sixers wound up suspending him for their regular-season opener for conduct detrimental to the team after head coach Doc Rivers threw him out of practice for not participating in a drill.

The following week, Simmons “described discomfort in his back to Sixers staff” and “underwent brief treatment before the medical staff cleared him to work out,” according to Wojnarowski. He then left without participating in any on-court activity. The next day, he told the Sixers that he “wasn’t mentally ready to play to his expectations and needed time to step away,” per Wojnarowski.

The Sixers briefly stopped fining Simmons after that, but they became “increasingly frustrated” with his “refusal to accept organizational assistance to address his mental readiness to play,” Shelburne and Wojnarowski reported in early November. He was initially “unwilling to meet with team doctors to discuss his mental readiness,” which caused the Sixers to resume fining him.

Simmons eventually changed course and did meet with a “team-recommended medical specialist to discuss his mental health,” per Wojnarowski. Shortly thereafter, his agent, Rich Paul, told Shams Charania of The Athletic that the Sixers were worsening Simmons’ mental health issues with “the fines, the targeting, the negative publicity shined on the issue.”

The Sixers rebutted that accusation, telling Charania that their position was “that he should partake in all team activities until there is information from its mental health professional or Simmons that would preclude him from playing. … Short of a doctor’s evaluation declaring he can’t play, the team [expected] Simmons to ramp up to return.”

That figures to be the crux of Simmons’ upcoming arbitration hearing. “The legitimacy of [Simmons’] mental health claim was not and has never been challenged by the Sixers,” according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. They just reportedly wanted more information about his progress so he could eventually return to the team.

The CBA requires a player “who consults or is treated by a physician (including a psychiatrist) or a professional providing non-mental health related medical services” to provide his team “with all information it may request concerning any condition that in the judgment of the Team’s physician may affect the Player’s ability to play skilled basketball.” However, it’s unclear whether Simmons met specifically with a psychiatrist or a different type of mental health professional.

The murky language in the CBA surrounding the treatment of mental health appears to be the bigger-picture issue for both sides. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have reportedly been “at odds” on whether the Sixers were within their right to fine Simmons, according to Shelburne, Marks and Wojnarowski, “and now arbitration could set a precedent on how future matters of mental health and contracts might be handled.”

Perhaps the arbitrator will clarify how much information players with mental health issues must provide to their teams moving forward. If the Sixers’ frustration stemmed from Simmons’ reported refusal to engage with them on a return-to-play process, both players and teams would benefit from clearer expectations for these tricky situations.

Mental health has become a far more prominent topic in the NBA in recent years, with Chicago Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan and Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love among those who’ve been open about their mental struggles. Simmons wasn’t as forthright about his, although he did tell reporters after his collapse against the Hawks that the first thing he planned to do in the offseason was “clear my mind and get my mental right.”

The $20 million question is whether Simmons’ mental issue precluded him from suiting up for the Sixers this season. The mental health professionals with whom he consulted are the only ones who can make that call either way.

If an arbitrator does rule in Simmons’ favor, though, he doesn’t figure to be the last disgruntled star who cites mental health as a reason why he can no longer play for his current team. He’ll have established a potential template for players who request a trade and refuse to play for their teams ever again.

In early March, Neubeck said that “based on conversations with league sources and several people familiar with the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, the early indication is that the Sixers are in a much stronger position here.” Either way, expect this to become a hot-button topic during the upcoming round of CBA negotiations between the NBA and the NBPA.

The Sixers survived through some early-season turmoil amidst Simmons’ absence and wound up flipping him in a blockbuster trade to Brooklyn at the trade deadline for James Harden. Both teams are now among the top candidates to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s NBA Finals.

Other teams around the league might not have the stomach to withstand a similar situation without caving prematurely on a trade request, though. That makes Simmons’ grievance a fascinating subplot playing out in the background of a potentially wide-open postseason.