Brooklyn Nets’ Ben Simmons Files Nearly $20 Million Grievance Against Philadelphia 76ers

Former Philadelphia 76ers basketball player and now current Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has filed a grievance against his former NBA team.

According to ESPN, Simmons filed a grievance against the Philadelphia 76ers to challenge the almost $20 million salary that the team withheld from him when he didn’t suit up at the beginning of the current season.

The filing was made with the team, the NBA (National Basketball Association), and the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) late this week.

Reporting with @RamonaShelburne and @BobbyMarks42: Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has filed a grievance to challenge the nearly $20 million of salary withheld to him by the Philadelphia 76ers this season. Story soon on ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 2, 2022

Last season, after the 76ers were eliminated from the playoffs, Simmons requested a trade after he reportedly lived up to the team’s expectations of him. At the beginning of this season, Simmons cited mental health issues as his reason for not suiting up for the team.

Philadelphia states that when Simmons didn’t suit up to play for the team, he breached his contract under the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and National Basketball Players Association. The team feels they had the right to recoup the money they advanced to him before the beginning of the season. Arbitration is the next step in this payment dispute.

The 76ers stated that its former player breached his player contract when he failed to show up for the start of training camp and refused to participate during the preseason and regular season. Simmons did attend training camp close to the end of the preseason. He reasoned that his mental health was the cause and that his participation in team activities was restricted.

The Philadelphia 76ers started withholding funds from Simmons’ paycheck initially on Nov. 15, which amounted to a per-game salary of $360,000 for each game Simmons skipped. Simmons received a $16.5 million advance on his $33 million salary before the start of the season. There wasn’t enough money in each paycheck to cover the per-game deductions based on that amount.

Simmons has since been traded to the Brooklyn Nets for disgruntled point guard James Harden on Feb. 10.