Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has filed a complaint to challenge the nearly $20 million salary that was withheld from him by the Philadelphia 76ers this season, setting the stage for a potentially significant showdown, sources told ESPN on saturday with
The complaint — which will now go to arbitration — could have a bigger impact on the league when it comes to future mental health issues and NBA contracts.
Philadelphia has repeatedly insisted that Simmons breached his contract under the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association and had the right to reclaim money paid to him preseason. The NBA and NBPA were at odds on the issue, and now arbitration could set a precedent for how future mental health matters and contracts might be handled.
The filing was filed with the team, the NBA and the NBPA later this week, sources said.
The 76ers have insisted that Simmons broke his player contract by not showing up for the start of training camp and refusing to play during the preseason and regular season. Simmons arrived in Philadelphia near the end of the preseason but cited his mental health as the reason his participation in team activities was so limited.
The 76ers and Simmons disagreed on the levels of access that the team and its doctors assigned to Simmons to diagnose and confirm his mental health.
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In a bid to resolve the matter without arbitration, Simmons representatives have held several meetings with the Sixers since James Harden’s blockbuster trade to Brooklyn on Feb. 10, sources said. Those talks ended without a resolution, leading to the complaint being filed, sources said.
Simmons and his agent, Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul, requested a trade in a postseason meeting after the three-time All-Star guard clashed with the team over a poor performance in an Eastern Conference Finals loss to Atlanta. Picked No. 1 in the 2016 NBA draft, Simmons was one of the top defensemen in the league and signed a five-year, $170 million contract in 2019.
Beginning with Simmons’ first paycheck on November 15, Philadelphia began reclaiming the $360,000-per-game salary for every game Simmons missed that season. Because Simmons received a $16.5 million advance on his $33 million salary during the offseason, there wasn’t enough money in each paycheck to cover the per-game deductions.
Less the escrow amount withheld by the NBA, the 76ers had withheld nearly $1.3 million from Simmons’ salary in each of his paychecks. This has continued since the deal was made with the Nets, who are being made to deduct the salary from Simmons salary to transfer to the 76ers, sources said. Since Simmons’ last paycheck is April 30, the deductions should roll over to the offseason. Once again. Simmons receives an $8.25 million advance on July 1 and October 1.
The NBA collective bargaining agreement provides that a complaint must be filed within 30 days from the date of the incident on which the complaint is based — or within 30 days from the date facts of the matter become known to the complaint to submit to League CBA.
It’s been six weeks since Simmons traded from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, but Simmons officials believe the trade didn’t trigger a 30-day window to file a complaint because the issue has persisted throughout the season, sources said .
Simmons has yet to play a game for the Nets this season. He had a previous back injury while trying to improve his condition to debut with the Nets. Simmons, who has not played since the playoff loss in June, received an epidural injection last month to treat a herniated disc in his back. The earlier Simmons output and relevant scans were disclosed during trade talks and did not pose significant long-term issues for the networks at this time, sources said.
The injury first affected Simmons in the spring of the pandemic-hit 2020 season. He also reported back problems when he reported to Sixers training camp in October. The injury was evaluated and treated by the Sixers team’s doctors, and he was cleared to resume basketball activities shortly thereafter. That period was the only time Philadelphia Simmons hasn’t breached his contract this season, sources said.