By Teddy Brenner
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Ben Simmons skipped today’s scheduled Sixers individual workout in Camden.
It puts into question whether Simmons, who was suspended by the 76ers for last night’s season-opening, win over the New Orleans Pelicans for conduct detrimental to the team, will play Friday against the Brooklyn Nets in the Sixers home opener at the Wells.
Sources: 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons is currently not mentally ready to play for the team and was receiving treatment on his back today due to ramp up process. He will miss Friday’s home opener vs. Nets and is not expected to play for an undetermined period of time.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2021
Sources told ESPN that Simmons arrived at and left the team’s practice facility today without participating in the planned workout.
Simmons has yet to fully engage in a team practice since reporting last week. He was thrown out of practice Tuesday after he declined several times to sub in for a drill.
Amid his trade request, Simmons held out of the first two weeks of training camp. The 76ers have fined Simmons more than $1.4 million for his absence from four preseason games ($360,000 each) and levied numerous fines for missed practices, on-court workouts and meetings, sources told Wojnarowski. He lost roughly $227,000 from Wednesday’s suspension.
