Ben Simmons and the 76ers reach a grievance settlement, but agreed to keep the amount confidential, which is insulting to 76ers fans
Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have reached a settlement agreement on the grievance Simmons filed to recoup a portion of the nearly $20 million withheld from him as a result of him not playing any games during the 2021-2022 season.
Unfortunately, both sides reportedly agreed to confidentiality on the exact financial settlement reached, which is complete bullshit.
Quick recap of how we got to the grievance settlement:
Simmons filed the grievance back in April after Klutch Sports and the 76ers couldn’t reach a settlement. The sides entered into an arbitration process but reached a settlement agreement prior to a judgment.
The Philadelphia 76ers REPEATEDLY insisted that Ben Simmons was in breach of his contract under the NBA CBA. The Sixers told us over and over again that they would have the right to recoup the money advanced to Simmons because Ben Simmons failed to show up for training camp, the preseason, and regular season before he was ultimately traded.
Simmons signed a five-year $170 million max contract in 2019. At the start of the 2021-22 season, the 76ers started taking back his per-game salary of $360,000 for every game Simmons missed this season. Because Simmons received a $16.5 million advance of the $33 million salary before the start of last season. There wasn’t enough money in each paycheck to cover the per-game deductions.
All throughout last year, Simmons claimed mental illness, back injuries, and cried his way out of Philadelphia until he finally got traded to the Nets.
The back injury excuse didn’t work because after reporting the issues to team doctors during last year’s training camp, he was eventually cleared to play shortly after. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the “back surgery” he got back in April while with the Nets was total bullshit too and only done so he would have a better chance at getting some cash back from the Sixers.
Then you have the mental illness excuse, in which Simmons refused to go through team doctors and saw third party doctors instead. Although Simmons had every right to do so, he then refused to share any of his treatments with the 76ers organization, so again, I’m having trouble identifying that as a reason to pay Simmons anything.
So why the hell are the 76ers paying Ben Simmons and why won’t anyone tell us how much was paid?
Well, that appears to be the million dollar question and I really have no idea why the Sixers would pay him a cent. I also find it rather insulting that this information isn’t being shared with the 76ers fanbase. How could the organization not tell us how much they are paying Ben Simmons for abandoning the team?
After everything the city of Philadelphia went through surrounding Ben Simmons, this is the final resolution to everything? A confidential grievance? We spent months getting criticized relentlessly by the national media. Ben Simmons and Klutch Sports did everything possible to paint the Philadelphia 76ers, the fanbase, and Joel Embiid in the most negative light possible.
As each day passed, ee were thrown to the wolves, time and time again, with little-to-no explanation from Ben Simmons. I’m sorry, but we as fans deserve to know more about this solution.
Outside of 76ers fans, the league should want that information disclosed as well, IF it ruled in the favor of the Sixers, which is another reason why I don’t think it did. Ben Simmons and Klutch Sports may have just sent a dangerous precedent that NBA players can sit out with multiple years left on their contract, ultimately get traded, and still be able to get the money back that they lost while completely abandoning their previous team.
I pray to god the 76ers didn’t get taken to the cleaners by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports.
Fuck that and fuck Ben Simmons.
