Ben Simmons appears to be getting closer to taking taking the court for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons joined his teammates for shootaround ahead of tonight’s 76ers-Pistons game. Head coach Doc Rivers added that Simmons “did a lot of shooting,” perhaps indicating the star forward is working his way back to the court.
Simmons has been the talk of the NBA world since the start of the season. It came to an eventful climax when Rivers had to kick the young star out of practice for poor effort.
The reality is Simmons can’t throw away his basketball career simply because he doesn’t want to play for the Sixers. At one point or another, he’s going to play for Philly.
Doc Rivers says Ben Simmons was at shootaround today — did “a lot of shooting”
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) October 28, 2021
The Sixers’ latest decision regarding Ben Simmons might be playing an integral role in his willingness to try.
Philadelphia has stopped fining Simmons for missing practices and games while allowing him to focus on his mental health.
“The Sixers have stopped fining Ben Simmons,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported earlier this week. “That was a big part of this, as you know ,the first couple weeks here when he was not showing up for games, when he did not report for camp. They’ve stopped fining him. Some of this is because of a standard provision in player contracts that say s if you’re dealing with a mental health issue, which Ben Simmons has reported to the team that he is … They’ve taken that in good faith.”
Is Simmons starting to turn a corner? It’s plausible.
The Philadelphia 76ers take on the Detroit Pistons tonight at 7 p.m. ET.
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