Ben Simmons was supposed to talk to the media on Tuesday for the first time since ending his holdout, but that was cancelled due to some unexpected drama at practice.
The Philadelphia 76ers suspended Simmons for one game due to “conduct detrimental to the team.” He will not play in the Sixers‘ first game of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
The Sixers didn’t release any details about what happened, but the incident reportedly took place at the practice right before Simmons was supposed to talk to the media. That session was cancelled and hasn’t been rescheduled yet.
Doc Rivers threw Simmons out of practice
Details about the incident did start to trickle out. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that head coach Doc Rivers threw Simmons out of practice.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers threw Ben Simmons out of practice today and the suspension came shortly thereafter, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 19, 2021
Rivers spoke to the media about Simmons for a few minutes and confirmed that he told Simmons to leave practice because “he didn’t want to do what everyone else is doing.” He valiantly tried to play off the incident as “no big deal.”
Rivers: “i just thought he was a distraction today, he didn’t want to do what everyone else is doing”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 19, 2021
Rivers: “My job as a coach is to keep getting guys to try to buy in…unfortunately this is tougher, but that’s my job”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 19, 2021
Unfortunately, it is kind of a big deal when your team’s second-most important player gets himself thrown out of one of his first practices after a long holdout mere days before the season begins.
As for what Simmons didn’t want to do during practice, The Athletic’s Shams Charania says Simmons refused to do defensive drills with the rest of the team.
Sources: Doc Rivers asked Ben Simmons to join a defensive drill today. Simmons refused. Rivers asked again. Simmons said no again.
Rivers then told Simmons he should go home, and Simmons dropped the ball and left.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2021
Joel Embiid is over Simmons
Joel Embiid, the Sixers’ most important player and previously one of Simmons’ supporters, spoke to the media after Simmons’ suspension. He said that he’s pretty much done with Simmons.
Embiid: “I’d be willing to babysit if someone wants to listen, but that’s not my my job”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 19, 2021
Simmons, who hasn’t done any press since June, will have to talk to the media eventually. And when he does, there will be so, so much to talk about. Here’s a list:
And that’s not even everything. When this media conference finally happens, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a three-ring circus.
Source: Yahoo Sports
