Happy Monday Morning, 76ers fans. A new week is upon us and we are now 10 games in to the 2021 NBA season. The Sixers are ranking No. 1 in a bunch of Power Rankings and are currently on a six game winning streak. They are off to a hot 8-2 start and in first place in the Eastern Conference. Tonight, they will be back in action at home against the New York Knicks. So of course, we have news about Ben Simmons to kick-off Monday morning. 

Last week, the 76ers began fining Ben Simmons again, after he failed to provide The Sixers organization information about the medical treatment he has reportedly been receiving since the summer. Simmons, as we know, met with Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid, and the rest of his 76ers teammates in late October to take responsibility for the situation that has unfolded over the past five months. From there, the Sixers stopped fining Ben Simmons since he was getting treatment on mental health issues and back tightness. 

After he failed to provide Sixers with updates regarding the treatment, the 76ers went back to fining Ben Simmons last week. The 76ers are questioning the validity of Simmons mental health assistance and things have been reportedly frustrating. Daryl Morey approached Ben Simmons last week to find out when he would be ready to return to the court and Simmons did not provide him with any type of substantial update. So now we are back to fining Simmons for everything that he is not participating in, such as games, practices, shoot arounds and strength and conditioning workouts.

A new update from Shams today states that Ben Simmons has now provided the names and organizations that he has been working with regarding his mental health issues, but they cannot share further information to the 76ers due to Simmons’ not giving consent due to patient confidentiality. 

Shams also is reporting that Simmons is “not comfortable” with any of the medical staff that is currently within the 76ers organization, which is why he chose to seek treatment elsewhere. On the other hand, the 76ers feel they deserve more information on the treatment that Simmons has been receiving so they can have a plan and process to get Simmons back with the team and playing basketball again. 

Simmons has been participating in drills and reportedly has been more “engaged” at practices but has yet to compete on 5-on-5 drills with The Sixers. Shams also states that he has been doing “intense” shooting drills with fellow Klutch Sports client and teammate Tyrese Maxey. 

At the end of the article, Shams threw in that the Boston Celtics have been interested in Ben Simmons and that potential trade talks have included Jaylen Brown. Brown is currently having another career season, averaging 25.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Trading Ben Simmons to the Celtics would be…something. Getting a scorer like Jaylen Brown would be fantastic. 

Look, all of these reports coming out still tells me one thing. Ben Simmons isn’t cooperating the way he should be. He’s holding back information about what type of medical assistance he is getting and the 76ers are rightfully growing impatient. It remains clear that Simmons doesn’t want to play for the 76ers again. It also remains clear that the second Simmons starts getting fined by the 76ers, he takes whatever the next step is to stop those fines. 

I’m growing pretty tired of the entire situation and so far, The Sixers have been playing great basketball through the first 10 games of the season. At this point, I’d rather focus on the players who want to be here. The Simmons saga rolls on, but we have basketball games to win, starting tonight agains the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center. 

Mandatory Credit: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS // CHRIS SZAGOLA