Ben Simmons needs to take charge of his own career and ignore the advice of his minders, says former No.1 pick and Aussie NBA great Andrew Bogut.
Amid the ongoing saga surrounding the Australian’s immediate playing future, Simmons is no closer to a trade despite doing all in his power to force the Philadelphia 76ers into a making a move.
This resulted in Sixers coach Doc Rivers booting Simmons from training on Wednesday (AEDT) when he reportedly refused to enter a defensive drill, leaving the team with no option but to suspend Simmons for their season-opener against New Orleans Pelicans this morning AEDT.
Speaking to The Age, Bogut, who won a championship with Golden State in 2015, had a pointed message for the Aussie, saying he must take more ownership over the situation.
“It’s just an ugly situation, but I think the group that he has around him aren’t probably the best advisors and that’s been Ben’s MO for the last three or four years,” Bogut said.
“Does he get a pass for that at 24 or 25? You can only hide behind your minders so much – you have to come out and make your own decision eventually.
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“It seems he gets pushed and pulled in the direction of whoever’s in the room with him. We somewhat experienced that with the national team – you just couldn’t get through to Ben. Once you get Ben in a room, he’s not a bad kid. He’s jovial, he chats, but it’s the other layers that cause problems.
“But you can’t excuse showing up with a cell phone in your pocket to a training session – you can’t get much lower than that.”
Claims Simmons was training with a phone in his pocket during practice was debunked, with reports emerging that it was actually a practice jersey hanging out of his pocket.
Either way the latest fine for missing the season opener will see him docked another $330,000. All in all he’s been fined more than $1 million.
While Simmons returned to Sixers camp to avoid losing more money, Bogut believes the insubordination exhibited by Simmons was a deliberate attempt to be sent home.
“It looks as though this might be a chess move from Ben to get sent home on paid leave [until a trade is reached],” Bogut said.
“They made him report by fining him for missing training camp and whatever, so I believe if he reports like he has, and they tell him to go away, then they have to pay him.
“My suggestion would be [to] go to practice, you don’t have to do the Kumbaya meetings, smile and shake everyone’s hand – just rock up to practice, work as hard as you can during training session time, and then leave,” Bogut said.
“That’s the bare minimum you are required to do until they find a trade partner. Right now, it’s not good for either party, it’s just messy.”
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