The only way to make much sense of Ben Simmons’ explanation of his divorce with the Sixers is to fill in the blanks with a bunch of stuff that he did not actually say. He mentioned the words “mental health” on a number of occasions, but he did not offer any specifics about his own mental health, or how it related to his eventual departure from the organization that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2016.
He seemed to indicate that his absence from the Sixers was unrelated to his original trade request, that his holdout was due to unsatisfactory mental health rather than job dissatisfaction, but he also seemed to indicate that his mental health would no longer prevent him from playing basketball now that he is satisfied with his job.
In short, he said a lot of words that painted the same blurry picture that he and his representatives have been holding up to since the summer.
“For me, the mental health has nothing to do with the trade,” Simmons said Tuesday in his first public comments since making the trade request that led to a 6½-month holdout and a trade to the Nets in exchange for superstar guard James Harden. “There was a bunch of things that I was dealing with as a person in my personal life that I don’t really want to go into depth with. But I’m here now, so it’s a blessing to be in an organization like this, and I’m just looking forward to getting back on the floor and building something great here.”
Throughout the half-hour question-and-answer session in Brooklyn, Simmons gave little indication how he was defining the term “mental health,” apart from some vague references to life and work stress. He mentioned no acute mental health crisis, nor did he detail the hurdles he felt he needed to clear in order to return to the court. At times, he sounded as if he were working from a circular definition in which his mental health was entirely contingent on his freedom to break his contract and play in a city where he felt like he would experience more personal and professional happiness than he felt he could achieve in Philadelphia.
“Yeah, I think that was part of it,” Simmons said when asked if he felt like he couldn’t get back to the place where he needed to be in Philadelphia. “I just wasn’t in a place there to do that. A lot of things had happened over that summer to where I did not feel l was getting that help. But it is what it is. It wasn’t a personal thing toward any player or coach, owners or anything like that. It was about myself getting to a place where I need to be.”
Simmons left the implication that Brooklyn was that place, and that his return to the court was imminent now that his home court was no longer the Wells Fargo Center. Asked if he felt like he would be ready to play by the time the Nets visit Philadelphia for a game on March 10, he responded, “I hope so.”
Really, the biggest questions looming over this whole episode are ones for everybody else to answer. To what extent does one’s mental health absolve them of the expectation that they fulfill their job responsibilities? Does one’s mental health struggles absolve them from taking responsibility for having fostered the impression that the real blame rests, at various points, with one’s coach, or teammate, or employer? In a dispute between millionaires and billionaires over money, is it fair to use mental health as an explanation for why the general public should side with one party over the other without offering an explanation that alleviates the concern that the request is mostly an opportunistic negotiating ploy that preys upon people’s empathy and good intentions that could actually set back the cause of mental health by inducing future cynicism around such claims?
These were difficult, maybe even impossible questions to answer even before Simmons resurfaced from his self-imposed exile. Now that he has spoken, they aren’t any clearer.
“There’s just a lot of things internally that had happened over time and it just got to a place where I don’t think it was good for me mentally,” Simmons said. “It is what it is, it happened, I’m moving forward.”
Simmons said that he has spoken with Doc Rivers, Elton Brand, Josh Harris, and Tobias Harris, among others, since the trade. He said he has not spoken with Joel Embiid, whom several anonymous reports cited as one of the reasons for Simmons’ belief that he no longer fit with the Sixers.
“Not doing what I love — that was definitely the most difficult part, especially for that long,” Simmons said. “If you take something away from somebody who loves doing it, it’s hard for anybody.”
Now, though, he looks forward to a future in which he can play a complementary role to All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Or maybe not so complementary.
“I think it’s going to be scary having those guys run alongside me,” Simmons said. “Multiple different weapons on the floor. At the place we want to play at, it’s going to be unreal.”
