This is a pretty wild story, but it lets you know how bad things are with the Sixers that some believe Simmons would try to figure out a way to get out of playing a Game 7 because he had the yips.
As you know, sports leagues are very serious about their COVID protocols. Is it possible Simmons took advantage of that to get out of playing, or are the Sixers just that disenfranchised with Simmons that they are starting to believe anything he does is suspect?
Here is what Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN had to say about the Sixers thinking Simmons might have been trying to look for a way out of Game 7.
Simmons was being held out of the team’s shootaround, he told them, due to a possible exposure to a team masseuse, who’d returned an inconclusive COVID-19 test.
Several players were questioned about whether they’d seen her that morning, but only Simmons said that he had.
“He answered the question honestly, without thinking of the implications,” says one source close to Simmons.
But according to multiple sources, many within the team questioned whether Simmons had actually seen the masseuse — or was just trying to get out of playing as he battled the basketball version of the yips.
The play that broke the camel’s back in the relationship between Simmons, his teammates, Embiid, Doc Rivers, and the fans was the play that you can watch in the video below.
Embiid’s reaction says it all.
At that precise moment, the Sixers had lost all confidence in Simmons, and they went on to lose Game 7. Unlike a lot of media, I do think this is salvageable because winning cures all. If Simmons decides he wants to play hard and for the team, they could quickly get off to a great start of the season.
A lot depends on if Simmons still wants that.
Flip the page for Doc Rivers allegedly cursing out Ben Simmons for wanting his money even though he didn’t show up.