Ben Simmons clears COVID protocols but will not play tonight vs Pistons

Ben Simmons will not play in tonight’s preseason finale for the 76ers against the Detroit Pistons. Since randomly showing up at the Wells Fargo Center last Monday, Simmons had to take a COVID-19 test and remain in isolated from team activities for the next five days. Today would be the first day that Simmons was eligible to rejoin the team. 

Ben Simmons will not play in tonight’s preseason finale in Detroit as he reconditions, sources told ESPN. He did not travel with the Sixers, but he has cleared health and safety protocols and is eligible to rejoin the team.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 15, 2021

Simmons didn’t travel to Detroit yesterday with the 76ers but was initially listed as doubtful. There was a small sense of hope that Simmons would clear protocols and travel to Detroit and play tonight. 

Honestly, that would have been the right move for Simmons. Why not rejoin the team on the road, in Detroit, before coming back and playing basketball in Philadelphia? 

Of course that’s assuming Ben Simmons does intend to play basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s even weird writing this, but we still do not have a definite answer if that’s the case. There’s growing concern that Ben Simmons rejoined the Sixers just to stop the fines he was getting while holding out. 

Earlier this morning, Ramona Shelburne wrote another article about Ben Simmons and the possibility that he tried to fake a COVID-19 exposure to avoid playing in Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks. Such a bizarre story and you can read the key takeaways from that here. 

As for what the next week holds, we honestly have no idea. We’re just going to have to take this one update at a time. 

The saga continues. 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ofi3ceYNpRWxmk5o4OyQ8?si=OcaC5JbsTaWOBx3ef9xj2Q&dl_branch=1