Ben told the nets that the stress of playing was the cause of his back flaring up

[Squirrel from Meteor Man]

This is a Klutch sports play to get the $20 million he lost back in arbitration, shameless

 

[CJ]

I feel like he is doing this so to make it seem like he can’t/couldn’t play for the season so he can get that 20 million back that he wasn’t paid.

Same, but why didn't he just try playing and then complain about the "injury". Could have saved face and then been like "see????" and hope to get that money back. What they did instead was way worse, especially with Nets getting swept.

 

[CrushedGroove]

I can see a Ben Simmons rule added to the next collective bargaining agreement.

He screwing over the rest of the players

 

[Theo Penn]

This nicca is the new Royce White

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

This guy is seriously going to mess it up for all players at the next CBA

 

[OGBobbyJohnson]

Guess he gonna be on Old Man & the 3

 

[Brozay]

so I think we all could assume his Nets teammates dont respect him but this is the first time its been reported so explicitly

For Nets players, the confusion was not centered around Simmons’ ailment, but with the perceived lack of attempt to play, effort to be in uniform and push his body in these high-stakes playoffs, sources said. Nets players and coaches wanted to see Simmons show resolve and enter this series to start his on-court Brooklyn tenure, even if it was for limited minutes on Monday or none at all while still dressing for the game.

 

[iamduval]

This is about money. He’s toying with them

 

[MoneyTron]

See this when Joe Blow gets insulted about his back breaking job that he hates getting paid $15/hr trying to feed his kids while this dude getting paid 8 figures can’t even dress out due to a “mental block”.

I usually give players the benefit of the doubt but this is disgusting.

 

[desjardins]

What do the Nets gain by leaking this
Last thing they need is to create another situation where Simmons can spin it like the organization created a hostile environment for his mental health

I wonder how many YEARS dude can keep this up, at what point do you just offer dude $80mil in some kind of arbitrated buy out and move on

 

[HimmyHendrix]

Royce White on a max contract

 

[Glorious]

So he doesn't want to play basketball again? Or is scared to get back on the court? Mental health is important but it seems like he isn't sure what the issue is himself.

Is this just about his grievances with Philly? What did the Nets do to him?

 

[Whips-n-Chains]

Pooooosayyyyy

 

[ORDER_66]

ben simmons everytime he about to play my lumbago

 

[BrehWyatt]

Don't want to make light of mental health issues.

That said... buddy really does seem as if winning and losing is secondary to how he is perceived as a player. He really doesn't seem to want to risk looking bad.