Philadelphia 76ers: Is it possible Ben Simmons will retire soon?

Is it possible Simmons will retire soon: Simmons’ downfall with the 76ers

On June 20th, 2021, the Philadelphia 76ers have a home playoff Game 7 and as everyone knows, the rest is history. Simmons only shot 3 total shots in the fourth quarters of the entire seven game series versus the Hawks. Simmons passed up a dunk attempt to avoid getting fouled. Embiid and head coach Doc Rivers had candid and fair post-game press conferences that apparently rubbed Simmons the wrong way. Then everyone went their own ways for the offseason.

As training camp approached the following year, there were murmurs that Simmons may be planning to hold out and demand a trade from Philadelphia. This was a team that drafted him first overall, a team that gave him chance after chance, a team that excused his lack of shooting and lack of development, a team that bent over backward to defend him and make him happy, a team that gave him a five-year, $170 million max contract extension.

Yet somehow that same team was treating him unfairly and created such a toxic environment that he could never play for the organization again. Poor Simmons! However, even in a player-driven league, the 76ers still had some leverage and they refused to pay him his salary if he did not report to camp. In response, Simmons showed up and claimed he had a back injury, something the team doctors said was not concerning, and subsequently cleared him to play basketball.

Simmons would not come back without a fight though and followed up the supposed back injury by claiming he was suffering from mental health issues. Now that is not something to be taken lightly, but clearly, there must be doubt since his first claim was a non-serious back problem. What followed over the next few months was back and forth posturing by Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers which ultimately resulted in the biggest blockbuster trade of the NBA season.