PHILADELPHIA — Ben Simmons said during an interview on former teammate JJ Redick’s podcast that he did not feel supported by the Sixers while dealing with mental health struggles in the aftermath of their 2021 playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks, leading to his trade request and months-long holdout before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February.
“I was in such a bad place where I was like, [expletive], I’m trying to get here and you guys are, like, throwing all these other things at me to where you’re not helping,” Simmons said on The Old Man & the Three episode posted Thursday. “And that’s all I wanted was help. I didn’t feel like I got it from coaches, teammates — I won’t say all teammates, because there’s great guys on that team that did reach out and are still my friends — but I didn’t feel like I got that, and it was just a tough place for me.”
These were Simmons’ most extensive comments since all the events that led to the blockbuster deadline deal that brought perennial All-Star James Harden to Philly. The only other time he has spoken publicly during that period was a press conference in Brooklyn held shortly after he joined the Nets.
Simmons also addressed the much-ridiculed play when he passed up a wide-open dunk in Game 6 of the Sixers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
“In the moment, I would have spun, and I’m assuming Trae [Young] gonna come over quicker, so I’m thinking he’s gonna come full-blown, and I see Matisse [Thybulle] going. Matisse is athletic and can get up, so I’m thinking, ‘OK, quick pass, he’s gonna flush it,’ not knowing how much space there was.
“It happened so quick, that you just make a read. In the playoffs, you need to make the right decisions the majority of the time. For that moment, bro, it happened and I was just like, ‘OK, [expletive], now we’ve got to go make another play. That’s how I’m thinking, and I didn’t realize how everyone’s posting. I’m like, ‘It was that big?’ ”
Redick, who played for the Sixers from 2017-19, said he understood how fast the game moves, but added, “When it slows down, it looks really bad, Ben.”
“It looks terrible,” Simmons said. “When I look at it now, I’m like, ‘Man I should have just [expletive] punched that [expletive].’ But it didn’t happen, and I was OK with that. I can live with that. Everyone’s trying to kill me over one play, like, does everyone want to watch film with me? The whole arena? I can dissect everything if you guys want, but it’s not realistic.”
Simmons and Redick have been friends since before they were Sixers teammates. Redick said during the interview that they got connected via text after Reddick played against the Sixers in Philly during his last season with the Clippers in 2016-17, saying Simmons then “basically tampered” in trying to persuade him to sign with the Sixers in free agency the following summer.
