According to Zach Lowe at ESPN, Ben Simmons will receive a “year of service” after holding out from playing with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Ben Simmons granted Year of Service after Sixers holdout

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, released late last month ahead of free agency, came with a previously undisclosed side letter indicating Ben Simmons has received credit for a year of service for the season in which he held out from the Philadelphia 76ers and was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets, sources familiar with the matter told ESPN on Wednesday.

Years of service come into play when determining whether players are eligible for maximum contracts of certain sizes and for other benefits. Counting the 2021-22 season at issue, Simmons now has seven official years of service in the NBA. Officials from several teams had argued Simmons should not receive credit for the 2021-22 season, sources said.

Oh cool.

So Ben Simmons basically gets a participation trophy for not participating at all.

Great work dude. You earned it. 

Really, this is a nothing burger because as we all know, Ben Simmons will never get another max contract in the NBA or really, any other type of benefits from the league.

Why would he?

No NBA team would ever hand over that type of money to a player that sat out for no real reason and since then, has been plagued with mysterious back injuries, while failing to accept or at the very least, acknowledge any type of blame that he holds for putting himself in these situations and his lack of progression in what was expected to be a generational skillset. 

Ben Simmons is lucky an NBA team is still using a roster spot to keep him on the bench with his ridiculous outfits, while offering absolutely nothing to the team but an annoying distraction. 

This is an NBA problem. Players can dictate exactly where they want to play, regardless of their contracts. Adam Silver isn’t doing shit and team owners are all a bunch of helpless losers, getting bullied by their own employees. 

Damian Lillard is currently forcing his way to Miami and James Harden is preparing to do the same so he lands in Los Angeles next season. 

“This League” is a joke and instead of doing something to fix it, they just sit back and let it happen. 

Happy Birthday Ben. Asshole. 

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