Ben Simmons has opened up on the “dark times” he has experienced since he last set foot on a basketball court, insisting that his mental health battle began well before last year’s playoff flameout.
Speaking for the first time since he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a package which saw former NBA MVP James Harden go to Philadelphia, the Australian touched on his personal struggles and his relationship with the 76ers organisation.
Simmons named Sixers owner Josh Harris, GM Elton Brand, his old coach Doc Rivers and former teammate Tobias Harris has individuals who had supported him over the last few months. Two curious omissions were Sixers president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, and Simmons’ former All-Star teammate Joel Embiid.
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“For me, it was about making sure I was mentally right to get out there again,” Simmons said.
“That’s something that I’ve been dealing with. It wasn’t about the fans or coaches or comments made by anybody, it was a personal thing for me that was earlier than that series or even that season that I was dealing with.
“That organisation knew that and that is something that I continue to deal with and I’m getting there and getting back to the right place.”
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The 25-year-old is still unable to put a date on when he will be able to play his first game for the Nets, but indicated that he hopes to be available when his new team travels to Philadelphia on March 10.
Simmons’ relationship with Embiid is something that has been well-scrutinised over the pair’s time together and it appears there is no love lost between the duo, particularly after Embiid’s tweet immediately following the trade. Simmons said he had not spoken to his old teammate following the move.
Critics of Simmons’, particularly fans and even some Philadelphia-based media, have questioned the validity of his mental health battle. The Australian had a simple response.
“They should be happy I’m smiling, honestly,” he said.
“I’ve had some dark times over these last six months and I’m just happy to be in this situation with this team and the organisation. People are going to say what they want, they have in the last six months and I haven’t commented.
“The mental health has nothing to do with the trade. It was a bunch of things that I’m dealing with as a person in my personal life that I don’t want to really go into much depth with.”
He added that people needed to get a better grasp on understanding mental health battles that professional athletes deal with throughout their respective careers, but did not want to criticise individual comments made about his condition either.
“I can’t tell somebody (how to feel) because that’s how they feel,” he said.
“I can’t tell somebody that they need to do this or that because I don’t know what they’re going through and I don’t know how they’re processing things.
“I’m just not that person, I’m never going to put my teammates down, my coaches or anything like that.”
Simmons was not able to pinpoint exactly when his relationship with the 76ers organisation had become untenable.
“If I knew, I would tell you everything,” he said.
“But 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. So, it is what it is. It happened and I’m moving forward.
“A lot of things had happened in that summer where I felt like I wasn’t getting that help. It wasn’t a personal thing towards any player or coach or owners or anything like that. It was about getting myself to a place I need to be.”
Although it has been widely assumed that Simmons’ last appearance for the 76ers – a Game 7 loss at home against the Atlanta Hawks in last year’s playoffs – was the source of his troubles, the Melbourne native insists his troubles began years prior.
“It was just piling up,” he said.
“A bunch of things that had gone on over the years to where I just knew I wasn’t myself and I had to get back into that place of being myself and being happy as a person and taking care of my wellbeing. That was the major thing for me.
“It wasn’t about the basketball, it wasn’t about the money or anything like that. I want to be who I am and get back to playing basketball at that level and be myself.”
The three-time All-Star has been doing a combination of weight lifting, Pilates and on-court workouts in order to stay physically ready over the last six months. He admitted that not getting to do what he loved was the hardest part of his holdout.
Simmons had nothing but praise for his new team, saying he’d spoken to star teammate Kevin Durant in the hours following what he called a “surreal” move.
“It didn’t feel real for a few days. Once I drove into the city I was like, ‘Wow, I’m really here’. This whole experience has been kind of surreal,” he said.
As for the fit alongside Durant and fellow star guard Kyrie Irving, Simmons issued a chilling message to the rest of the NBA.
“I think it’s going to be scary,” he said. “Having those guys run alongside me, multiple different weapons on the floor and I think at the pace we want to play at, it’s going to be unreal.”