Ben Simmons’ camp did not expect fines from Sixers to be so high
The Philadelphia 76ers played in a preseason game on Monday when they fell to the Toronto Raptors up in Canada. They played that game without a certain All-Star point guard and the Sixers punished said guard once again for not showing up to work.
Ben Simmons has still yet to show up for work as he has made good on his promise to continue his holdout to force a trade out of Philadelphia. He did not show up to media day or training camp and now he has missed the team’s first preseason game.
Philadelphia fined Simmons roughly $360,000 for not showing up to the game on Monday and this comes after the team withheld the $8.25 million owed to him in his contract.
Per Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice, Simmons’ camp did exactly expect the fines and the punishments to be this high as they continue their holdout:
Simmons’ representation had another discussion with the players association in which it was reiterated they would be unable to recoup the money being deducted from the $8.25 million sitting in escrow, sources say, and it was communicated to the Sixers that these early fines were perhaps higher than they expected.
It does appear that leverage remains on Philadelphia’s side. President Daryl Morey and coach Doc Rivers have reiterated that they do expect Simmons to show up and report to the team at some point. They will do everything in their power to ensure that the 25-year old holds up his end of the bargain.
While Simmons has obviously expressed that he wants out, and that’s fine, but at this point, he might just have to show up to avoid getting fined as much as he has been. If it does happen, then there are bound to be some awkward moments within the team as they get set to move forward.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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