Ben Simmons’ Settlement Gives Kevin Durant A Blueprint To Follow

On Monday, Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers reached a settlement that will allow him to recoup some of the nearly $20 million that the team withheld from him prior to his trade to the Brooklyn Nets in February, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

In doing so, Simmons might have given a blueprint for Kevin Durant and other disgruntled NBA stars to follow when they hope to force their way off their teams.

Last August, Simmons informed the Sixers that he “no longer [wanted] to remain” with them and did not intend to report to training camp ahead of the 2021-22 season, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also told the team’s management that he had “no plans to wear an NBA uniform again” until they traded him, according to Wojnarowski.

The Sixers didn’t cave to his trade request at first, so Simmons followed through on his holdout threat and refused to report for training camp. The team responded by withholding the $8.25 million in salary he was owed by Oct. 1, as it viewed his “refusal to report to training camp as not fulfilling the terms of his contract,” according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.

The Sixers began fining Simmons $360,000 for every preseason game that he missed, which eventually caused him to return to the team. However, head coach Doc Rivers threw him out of practice after he refused to sub in for a drill and suspended him for the season-opener for “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

“Simmons’ reluctance to physically and mentally engage with the Sixers since his return” was a “consistent theme,” sources told Wojnarowski.

Two days later, Simmons “described discomfort in his back to Sixers staff” and “underwent brief treatment before the medical staff cleared him to work out,” but he left “without doing any on-court activity,” according to Wojnarowski. (Simmons later underwent surgery on a herniated disk following his arrival in Brooklyn.) He then told the Sixers that he “wasn’t mentally ready to play to his expectations and needed time to step away,” per Wojnarowski, and he never suited up for them again.

Simmons’ grievance stemmed from the Sixers’ decision to continue fining him after that. They briefly stopped fining him, but they became “increasingly frustrated” with his “refusal to accept organizational assistance to address his mental readiness to play,” according to Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. He was initially “unwilling to meet with team doctors to discuss his mental readiness,” although he did eventually meet with a “team-recommended medical specialist to discuss his mental health,” per Wojnarowski.

Shortly thereafter, Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul, told Shams Charania of The Athletic that the Sixers were worsening his mental health issues with “the fines, the targeting, the negative publicity shined on the issue.” The Sixers told 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.”

The league’s collective bargaining agreement 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 remains unclear whether Simmons met specifically with a psychiatrist or a different type of mental health professional.

Either way, Simmons’ ability to recoup some of his lost salary could give other disgruntled NBA stars a new blueprint to follow after a trade request. That includes one of his new teammates, Durant, who requested a trade from the Nets shortly before free agency began on June 30.

Much like the Sixers did with Simmons last summer, the Nets have set a sky-high price for Durant that no team has been willing to match to date. Durant recently reiterated his trade request in a meeting with Nets governor Joe Tsai, telling him that he’d have to pick between Durant and the combination of head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks, according to Charania. (Tsai quickly made clear which side he’s choosing.)

Prevailing wisdom suggested that Durant would show up for training camp even if the Nets haven’t traded him by late September because of his love of basketball. However, a source “pushed back” on that idea while speaking with Kristian Winfield of the New York Dai
DAI
ly News. On Monday, Marc Stein of Substack added that it was “certainly getting easier to envision him refusing to report to training camp.”

Stein recently reported that much like Simmons, Durant is owed 25 percent of his contract on July 1 and another 25 percent on Oct. 1. If he refuses to report for training camp, the Nets might follow in the Sixers’ footsteps from last season and withhold the $10.7 million that Durant is owed on Oct. 1.

Depending on how much he wants out of Brooklyn, Durant might be willing to forgo his entire $44.1 million salary this year. He’s made more than $300 million from his NBA contracts alone, and he’s owed more than $150 million between the 2023-24 and 2025-26 seasons. He also has an additional $50 million in endorsements this year alone, according to Forbes, which makes him the world’s sixth-highest-paid athlete.

But now that Simmons recouped some of his withheld salary, though, what’s stopping Durant from trying that same tactic with the Nets? What about the next disgruntled superstar who wants off his team despite being under contract?

If NBA teams can’t force players to honor their contracts—Durant is just beginning the four-year, $194.2 million extension he signed last August—it could set the stage for some contentious collective-bargaining-agreement negotiations. Would team governors seek to cut down on the amount of guaranteed money in standard contracts? Might they try to claw back some money from any player who requests a trade?

It’s too early to know how the Durant saga will play out. But if it’s anything like what happened with Simmons and the Sixers last year, both the league office and the National Basketball Players Association will be paying close attention heading into CBA talks.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.