Crossover World

  Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has filed a grievance to challenge the nearly $20 million of salary withheld to him by the Philadelphia 76ers this season, setting up a potentially significant showdown, sources told ESPN on Saturday. The grievance -- which will now go to an arbitration process -- could have larger league implications amid future issues of mental health matters and NBA contracts. Philadelphia has repeatedly insisted that Simmons was in breach of his contract under the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and National Basketball Players Association and had the right to recoup the money advanced to him before the season. The NBA and NBPA have been at odds on this issue and now arbitration could set a precedent on how future matters of mental health and contracts might be handled. The filing was made with the team, NBA and NBPA late this week, sources said. The 76ers have insisted that Simmons breached his player contract upon failing to show up for the sta...

  As the playoffs draw closer, there is still no firm timetable when it comes to Ben Simmons' return to game action for the Brooklyn Nets. Simmons has yet to play in a game this season, and he has been dealing with a back injury since he was acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers by Brooklyn last month. On Sunday, Nets head coach Steve Nash spoke to reporters and said that Simmons is currently not doing any basketball activity. Instead, he is working with the team's medical staff to continue rehabbing his back injury. "The physical therapist just works on his rehabilitation," Nash said. "I wasn't on [the table] working on him. They do what they do in a clinical setting and try to improve his condition. ... A lot of bio-mechanical work, manual therapy, all sorts of stuff to get him in a position to start to move in the right sequence and fashion." Despite the setback, Nash said he is still "fully expecting" to have Simmons on the court this season...

  As the playoffs draw closer, there is still no firm timetable when it comes to Ben Simmons' return to game action for the Brooklyn Nets. Simmons has yet to play in a game this season, and he has been dealing with a back injury since he was acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers by Brooklyn last month, As it stands now, the Nets are holding out hope that Simmons can return for "a couple" of regular-season games before postseason play gets underway, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.  Initially, the Nets were targeting their matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, March 18 as a potential return date for Simmons, but that has been pushed back indefinitely due to setbacks in his rehab. Simmons recently received an epidural in order to limit pain.  From ESPN:  Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons has remained sidelined with an irritation of the L-4 disc of the lower spine, but there's hope he can return for a "couple" of regular...

  The Brooklyn Nets have won three straight games, including an impressive 29-point win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Arena. Ben Simmons was in attendance as his new team took the air out of the arena, quieting Philly fans who came in eager to boo their former star. Since acquiring Simmons from the 76ers at the Feb. 10 trade deadline, the All-Defensive guard has been dealing with back stiffness and has yet to make his Brooklyn debut.  The Nets still don't have a definitive timeline for Simmons' return, but they're extremely confident he'll be back before the regular season ends, per head coach Steve Nash, who also said Simmons won't travel to face the Magic on Tuesday night in Orlando. The last time Simmons played in an NBA game was Game 7 of the Sixers' second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on June 20. In a recent interview with YES Network's Michael Grady, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that they hope he'll be able to begin r...

  Philadelphia 76ers fans appeared to be having a lot of fun leading up to the tip-off of Thursday's highly anticipated matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, largely due to the presence of former Sixer Ben Simmons. Though he wasn't active for the game, Simmons sat with his Nets teammates on the sideline and even got some on-court work in before the game. The entire time, he was serenaded by a chorus of boos and chants from the Philly faithful, who still harbor hard feelings about the way Simmons demanded a trade while refusing to play for the 76ers this season. As the game progressed, however, the jeers toward Simmons were quieted by the Nets' brilliant performance, as they dominated their way to a 129-100 victory. By the end, some Philadelphia fans had even turned their boos toward their own team rather than Simmons. Kevin Durant, who led the Nets with 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, noticed that the Wells Fargo Center crowd got awfully quiet once his team started p...

  Ben Simmons is going to receive an absolute avalanche of boos from Philadelphia 76ers fans on Thursday, and Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash wants him to have fun with it.  "I hope he enjoys it," Nash told reporters after shootaround, via 94WIP's Howard Eskin. "How many people get to go in an arena and get booed by the entire place? I had it done to me and I thought it was a privilege. So I hope he enjoys the experience."  Nash was booed by home fans early in his Dallas Mavericks tenure, but he hasn't exactly described that as a privilege. He was cheered when he went back to Dallas as a member of the Phoenix Suns, and he received a mixture of cheers and boos when he returned to Phoenix as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Anyway, back to Simmons: "His future is in Brooklyn," Nash said. "And Philly has moved on. And it's a basketball game, so let's go out there and enjoy it." Nash added: "It's a part of the process, righ...

  Now that Kevin Durant has made his return to the Brooklyn Nets lineup after missing time due to an MCL sprain, all attention shifts to the season debut of Ben Simmons. Since acquiring Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers at the Feb. 10 trade deadline, the All-Defensive guard has been dealing with back stiffness and has yet to make his Brooklyn debut.  There is still no definitive timeline, and Simmons will not play in the Nets' upcoming matchup against his former team in Philadelphia on Thursday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Simmons is expected to be in the building, however, and will sit on the bench with the team.  As a result of his holdout in Philadelphia, the last time Simmons played in an NBA game was Game 7 of the Sixers' second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on June 20. In an interview with YES Network's Michael Grady last week, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that they hope he'll be able to begin ramping up his return-to-play progr...

  Now that Kevin Durant has made his return to the Brooklyn Nets lineup after missing time due to an MCL sprain, all attention shifts to the season debut of Ben Simmons. Since acquiring Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers at the Feb. 10 trade deadline, the All-Defensive guard has been dealing with back stiffness and has yet to make his Brooklyn debut.  As a result of his holdout in Philadelphia, the last time Simmons played in an NBA game was Game 7 of the Sixers' second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on June 20. In an interview with YES Network's Michael Grady on Thursday, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that they hope he'll be able to begin ramping up his return-to-play program by the end of next week. "Unfortunately his back stiffness has delayed his ability to get on the court with his teammates. so he's been rehabbing this last sort of week to 10 days," Marks said. "And then now he'll progress throughout this week with some individua...

  Kevin Durant will be back when the Brooklyn Nets host the Miami Heat on Thursday at Barclays Center, his first game since Jan. 15. It remains something of a mystery, however, when he will share the court with new teammate Ben Simmons.  Simmons, acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers at the Feb. 10 trade deadline, is dealing with back stiffness and has yet to make his Brooklyn debut. As a result of his holdout in Philadelphia, the last time Simmons played in an NBA game was Game 7 of the Sixers' second-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on June 20. In an interview with YES Network's Michael Grady on Thursday, Nets general manager Sean Marks said that they hope he'll be able to begin ramping up his return-to-play program by the end of next week. "Unfortunately his back stiffness has delayed his ability to get on the court with his teammates. so he's been rehabbing this last sort of week to 10 days," Marks said. "And then now he'll progress throughou...

  A new obstacle has arisen when it comes to Ben Simmons' return to game action for the Brooklyn Nets. In addition to working to overcome the mental health issues that have prevented him from playing in a single game this season, Simmons is also dealing with some back soreness in his reconditioning process, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Further strengthening of the area will be required before Simmons makes it out on the floor.  There is still no timetable set for Simmons to make his debut with the Nets, but the good news for Brooklyn is that Simmons' back issue doesn't seem to be especially serious, as Steve Nash categorized it as "soreness" and described it as a byproduct of the fact that Simmons hasn't played since last season.  "It's not like an injury. It's just as he's returning to play his back's flared up a little bit... But it's not a long-term thing." Nash said. "He hasn't played a game since July...

  Ben Simmons and Seth Curry were both recently traded from the 76ers to the Nets together. So, Curry has been there through all of this season’s Simmons drama. There is a current debate around whether or not Simmons should apologize to the 76ers organization for leaving Philadelphia without really saying good-bye, or apologize for not playing this season due to mental health issues and some injuries.  While Simmons’s exit from Philadelphia was relatively unceremonious after he didn’t play at all this season while dealing with his own mental health issues, Curry does not think that Simmons has to apologize to the 76ers, and he recently explained he reasoning to ESPN. “Business is business,” Curry said. “I said from day [one], even when he was out early in the season, people were asking me if I feel like, if Ben comes back, should he apologize to us or whatever? I understand the business; he doesn’t need to apologize to anybody. When he’s on the court, I know he’s going to do h...

  How closely have we been paying attention to the underlying messages of athletes who speak out about their mental health? New Nets guard Ben Simmons spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time in months after he was traded from the Sixers for James Harden and Paul Millsap, along with Andre Drummond, Seth Curry and two first-round picks. Simmons reported to the slumping team Monday after sitting out the start of the 2021–22 campaign, having cited mental health concerns. Not everyone took well to the positive development in Brooklyn this week. “So much for Ben Simmons mental illness,” tweeted Philadelphia radio personality Howard Eskin. “Amazing how that was just fine once he got traded. Insulting to those that really suffer.” “If Ben Simmons is suddenly ready to play for Brooklyn after weaponizing his mental health as an excuse to stay away from the Sixers, I’m going to have some thoughts,” tweeted Matt Mullin, a soon-to-be Philadelphia Inquirer editor. “Some very angry thoughts tha...

Ben Simmons spoke to the media for the first time in nearly eight months as a member of the Nets on Tuesday, after his contentious battle with the 76ers and a lengthy hiatus from the NBA due to mental health concerns. After he was seen on the bench during Brooklyn‘s win over Sacramento on Monday following last week's trade between the Nets and the Sixers, Simmons stepped in front of a microphone and a room full of reporters for the first time since June 20, 2021 on Tuesday morning. The 25-year-old called the opportunity to join a star-studded Nets team, led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving a “blessing,” explaining that he's ready to move forward from the events of the last few months. “For me the mental health has nothing to do with the trade. It was a bunch of things that I was dealing with as a person in my personal life that I don't really want to into depth about. But I‘m here now,“ Simmons said of joining the Nets. “It‘s a blessing to be in an organization like this an...