Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers continue to be locked in a bitter feud that first began at the end of last season.
Following the Sixers’ disappointing ouster from the playoffs, Simmons was thrown under the bus by teammate Joel Embiid and head coach Doc Rivers over his offensive timidness.
Simmons promptly demanded a trade.
In the months since, Simmons and the 76ers have been engaged in a bitter feud where the latter refuses to do any trade where they don’t get a star in return, and the former declines to take the court for his old ballclub.
Because of Simmons’ resistance to playing, the Sixers have refused to pay him. This has reportedly led to a predictable outcome.
According to Howard Eskin of SportsRadio 94WIP, Simmons is allegedly running out of money.
“Cash flow broke. Because he’s losing so much money, but he spent so much money,” Eskin told Joe Giglio recently.
“He’s got two homes in the Philadelphia area, probably worth eight or nine million. He buys a new car every month, four or five hundred thousand. He just spends money like it’s nothing because he thinks it never ends. And the person that told, it’s very reliable that he has got serious cash flow issues.”
The Sixers reportedly refused to pay Simmons $8.25 million that was supposed to go out on Oct. 1. In addition, he faces fines of $360,000 per game. The cumulative effect of all that may be Simmons returning to action sooner than he hoped and for a team he doesn’t want to play for.
“I don’t want him to come back, stay broke,” Eskin added. “I thought he was going to be out the whole year, now he may have to come back just to get some money.”
That’s one way to celebrate divorcing Johnny Manziel. https://t.co/jQ28nDRqn1
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 24, 2021
Simmons obviously has one team he’d prefer to be traded to, but it looks like that is a pipe dream at this point. He is very much in a beggars can’t be choosers situation, especially if the latest reports about his finances are true.
How will this ridiculous saga ultimately end? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
