The Philadelphia 76ers took a dramatic step in its ongoing standoff with Ben Simmons when they decided to withhold his salary last week. Simmons was owed 25 percent of his salary, a figure of $8.25 million, on Oct. 1, and there were questions about whether the Sixers would pay him or keep that for themselves due to his holdout.
Ultimately, Philly decided to not pay him, instead putting that money in escrow. And while the Simmons camp was apparently prepared for this possibility, a new report from Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice indicates there may be some second-guessing going on.
After being fined for missing Philadelphia’s preseason loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday night — a penalty of roughly $360,000 — Simmons’ representation had another discussion with the players association in which it was reiterated they would be unable to recoup the money being deducted from the $8.25 million sitting in escrow, sources say, and it was communicated to the Sixers that these early fines were perhaps higher than they expected.
Neubeck pointed out that Simmons could seek arbitration, but reports that there’s not much optimism that would work out for him. With the Sixers’ season beginning in just over two weeks, there’s still plenty of time for some sort of resolution on this front front, but for now, it appears Philly is prepared to see this out no matter what route it takes, while those around Simmons have some questions about the path this is traveling.
