The Philadelphia 76ers are increasingly frustrated with the refusal of Ben simmons to accept organizational assistance to address his mental disposition to play, sources told ESPN.
While Simmons has been working with team doctors to treat a back ailment, he has been unwilling to meet with team doctors to discuss his mental readiness, the sources said.
Instead, sources said, Simmons has worked with mental health professionals through the National Basketball Players Association since the summer. So far, Simmons has yet to provide details of those meetings to the team, the sources said.
On a regular basis at the team’s practice facility in Camden, NJ, Simmons has engaged with his teammates and coaching staff in one-on-one scenarios, but has not moved forward to meet with full team activities and has not it is clear when or if it will.
The Sixers remain eager to help Simmons address his mental readiness so he can return to the team. There is uncertainty as to whether it is making progress towards the same goal, the sources said.
Sources close to Simmons told ESPN they hope to provide the team with updates on his progress once he is comfortable.
The Sixers fined Simmons nearly $ 2 million for missing games, practices and meetings earlier this season. But sources said the team stopped fining him once he told them on October 22 that he was not mentally ready to play.
There is a provision in the collective agreement that protects the salaries of the players for not rendering the services “if said failure has been caused by the mental disability of the player”.
.
We would like to say thanks to the writer of this write-up for this incredible web content
76ers frustrated by another refusal from Simmons