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NBPA Rumors
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Ben Simmons meeting with 76ers-recommended mental health specialist
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: After initial reluctance, Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons has met with a team-recommended specialist to discuss mental health concerns. Among other issues, the organization had recently reinstituted fines for Simmons’ failure to agree to those meetings.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Simmons is planning to continue meeting with his @NBPA-provided mental health specialist and working out regularly at the team practice facility, sources tell ESPN. Simmons has yet to play for the Sixers this season and there remains no timeline on a possible debut.
The National Basketball Players Association has supported Simmons throughout this process, and one NBPA source told The Athletic that as long as Simmons has provided his team with the basic information regarding mental health professionals with whom he’s seeking help, Philadelphia should not have grounds for salary withholding. The team fined Simmons last week for a shootaround at which he was present but was asked by Rivers not to participate unless he was active, sources said. Simmons has yet to play five-on-five and no plans to return to action were communicated by either side after he stated that he’s not mentally ready to play.
Vincent Goodwill: NBPA Statement on Robert Sarver: “We are continuing to review the allegations in today’s ESPN story. We view these allegations as serious and applaud the League’s decision to conduct an investigation. We will defer any further comments until that process has been concluded.”
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said the league has not “received a complaint of misconduct at the Suns organization through any of our processes, including our confidential workplace misconduct hotline or other correspondence.” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said she was not aware of any reports from players of misconduct by Sarver or the Suns. “Apart from [point guard Chris Paul] and James Jones, we have not had much official contact with the team and none that I can think of with Sarver.”
