There is a lot of anticipation before Thursday’s huge matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. It is a matchup that is expected to bring star power on both sides from Joel Embiid and James Harden to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
It will be the first matchup between the teams since the big Feb. 10 trade that sent Harden from Brooklyn to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons. There is a lot of eyes expected to be on this nationally televised game and the backdrop is going to be dramatic.
For Philadelphia fans, this will be their first time seeing Simmons in the building since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. He will not play in the game, but he will be in the building and on the bench for Brooklyn.
Simmons understands the reception he is expected to receive from Sixers fans and he just might use that to file a grievance to Philadelphia in an attempt to get the money back from the fines the Sixers levied.
Per Kyle Neubeck of The PhillyVoice, that is what he plans to do:
Put Simmons in the middle of that storm, the argument goes, and it’s believed that will be Exhibit A in the case of why Simmons could not and did not fulfill his obligations for the Sixers prior to being traded, why he was unprepared to work for this franchise prior to being dealt. And the debate over Simmons’ obligation to the franchise is what will ultimately take center stage, even if Simmons’ side of the argument appears to be fighting an uphill battle in their quest to recoup his lost money.
Earlier in the season, Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, said the Sixers were making things worse for his client in terms of his mental health. He added that the fines coming his way were bad and the public negativity played a hand in him not showing up to the Sixers earlier in the season before the trade.
The fines that the Sixers put on Simmons were based on some disagreements from both sides. The team never denied or challenged Simmons when he said he was battling mental issues, but their problem was that he did not keep the team in the loop when it came to seeing a specialist outside of the ones the team offered to him. It was a very basic thing for Simmons to do, but he refused to do so.
Neubeck added in his report:
Now that a trade has been completed and Simmons got what he told the team he wanted dating back to August, the indication is that they want the money he lost as well, in spite of the refusal to cooperate with basic rules and understandings laid out within the CBA.
At the end of the day, even with Simmons now with the Nets, it appears that the saga around the 25-year old and the Sixers will continue for a little while longer.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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