The saga between the Philadelphia 76ers and their former top draft pick Ben Simmons, who is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets but has yet to play a game for them, has finally come to an end as a settlement was reached.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the two sides came to a settlement on the grievance Simmons filed to recoup a portion of the nearly $20 million withheld from him as a result of his failure to play games during the 2021-2022 season, with both agreeing to confidentiality on the exact financial settlement reached.
After initial discussions between the organization and Simmons’ reps at Klutch Sports failed to yield an agreement, Simmons and the National Basketball Players Association filed the grievance back in April this year.
According to the report, the Sixers began to take back the per-game salary of $360,000 for each game Simmons missed during the season, but because Simmons received a $16.5 million advance of his $33 million salary during the offseason, they paycheck failed to cover the per-game deductions as there wasn’t enough money.
Simmons had been dealing with a back injury, that initially affected him during the spring of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and Simmons experienced discomfort in his back when arriving to Sixers training camp later in October.
Eventually, after being treated by team doctors, Simmons was cleared to resume basketball activities.
Philadelphia ended up trading Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade that brought James Harden to the Sixers.
