Will time heal all wounds between Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers?
Ben Simmons has informed the Philadelphia 76ers that he needs time before he’s ready to play for the team again. There’s no timeline for the “time” needed by Simmons, but one would have to wonder whether “time” is even something that will solve anything.
Simmons and the Sixers have exchanged dissatisfaction with each other via the media over the last few days. It all came to a halt when Simmons met with Sixers brass and leadership Friday in which he reportedly let them know that he wasn’t mentally ready to play for the team.
"[via ESPN]Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul, had told Sixers officials that Simmons wasn’t mentally prepared to play, sources said, and that was a message that Simmons relayed directly Friday morning."
Whether or not he will ultimately get there remains seen. What we do know is that it’s unlikely that we’ll see Simmons in a Sixers’ uniform anytime soon. At the same rate, it would be almost equally as surprising to see Philadelphia trade him.
Daryl Morey has made it clear that he doesn’t play on trading Simmons just for the sake of trading him. It’s left Simmons in a bad place. He had made his mind that he was done with Philly and now having to revisit those old thoughts has him second-guessing everything.
That could be a big reason why he isn’t ready to suit up for the team.
An argument can be made that Simmons mostly brought this upon himself. This is why we saw the Sixers take such a hard stance against him demanding a trade when it all began to transpire.
However, it doesn’t do the Sixers any good to force Simmons to play. It would not be a good thing for the locker room and certainly wouldn’t be a good example for some of the young players on the roster.
The big question is how this all gets resolved. Simmons may not be mentally ready to play for the Sixers now, but will that even change with “time?”
There’s a saying that time heals all wounds. The Sixers are hoping that ends up being the case between Simmons and the team. However, there’s no guarantee that time away is what’s going to solve the issue at hand.
The Sixers looked good in their season opener without Simmons, but there will come a time this season when it’s going to be abundantly clear that they need him on the floor. Question is, will this issue be resolved by then?
At this point, with how the narrative has evolved over the last couple of weeks, I’m not sure there’s any predicting where this story will be a week from now. Much less by the end of the season.