The Philadelphia 76ers will begin their season on Wednesday night on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans and they will have to do so without the services of one of their top players.
The Sixers will be without Ben Simmons after the team suspended him one game for what the team called “conduct detrimental to the team”. This comes after coach Doc Rivers tossed him out of practice for not wanting to participate in any defensive drills.
This should not be a big surprise as he clearly wants to be traded and he wants the organization to fulfill his trade request, however, he is under contract for four more seasons. It is coming down to a point where he has to be able to step up and do his part and be a professional amid his unhappiness.
“I’m gonna give Ben a chance to join the team and be part of the team,” Rivers said at practice on Tuesday. “He’s under contract, he’s part of the team, and so that’s not gonna change. Sometimes it happens quick and guys join back in, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve been in both situations and I’m fine with that, but at the end of the day, as a coach, I have to protect the team. It’s the team first and then we’ll get to the other part.”
Rivers is still not giving up on Simmons. The Sixers were the No. 1 seed in the East in the 2020-21 season and that is what he wants to get across to his star guard. He wants him to realize how close they were to winning despite his trade request.
“My job is to get everyone, including Ben, to see how close we were,” Rivers added at shootaround on Wednesday in New Orleans. “Also, the business side of it, there are times when guys want to get traded for whatever reason. I get that, I’ve been around this long enough, but then you look at your team, if we can do it and make our team better, yeah, but if you can’t, you fight to keep the guys you’ve had. It’s a predicament that we’re in and that part is no fun.”
Unfortunately for Rivers in this business, it is more of “what have you done for me lately”. The Sixers did end up losing Game 7 at home to the Atlanta Hawks and that is what people will remember the most rather than how close they were.
“I took this team because a lot of people didn’t think that we could do what we did last year and we obviously wanted to do more, but we took a team last year and so you’re coming this summer thinking ‘we’re close’ and not to allow the residual effects of one loss to overshadow what you actually did,” Rivers added. “Unfortunately, that has happened.”
At this point, the Sixers have to focus on the Pelicans on Wednesday and they will have to do so without the services of their 25-year old 3-time All-Star.
“We get to play right now, Ben’s not,” Rivers finished. “I want Ben to be playing. That’s his job. I don’t like any player losing money. There’s so many things about this I don’t like, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t have to do your job and that’s the tough part.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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