The Sixers Are No Longer Fining Ben Simmons

A major hurdle has been cleared in the Ben Simmons saga: The Philadelphia 76ers are not fining him anymore. In a bit of news reported on NBA Today by Ramona Shelburne and confirmed by Marc Stein, the team has stopped levying fines against the All-Star guard amid his ongoing attempts to get a trade.

As Shelburne explained, this is, in part, because the Sixers are now in a situation where they need to stop withholding his money due to the circumstances under which he’s away from the team.

“Some of this, Malika, is because there’s a standard provision in player contracts that says if you’re dealing with a mental health issue — which Ben Simmons has reported to the team that he is, and he wants to work on himself, mentally and physically, this week,” Shelburne said. “They’ve taken that in good faith and said, ‘Ok, we’re taking that you are working on yourself, mentally and physically, and we’ve offered to make these resources available to you.’ And so right now, everybody’s in a good place, and the fines are not accumulating, and that was an issue for Ben Simmons, as you know, in the first couple of weeks in this standoff.”

Simmons addressed the team last week and said that he was not in a place mentally to contribute to the level he expects of himself, something that led to him getting support from teammates like Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Tyrese Maxey. Back on Oct. 1, Simmons was owed $8.25 million of his contract, but the Sixers opted to withhold it and place that money in escrow.

The post The Sixers Are No Longer Fining Ben Simmons appeared first on UPROXX.