| August 15, 2022, 6:39 PM
Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have reached a settlement agreement on the grievance the former all-star guard filed in an attempt to regain a portion of salary the team did not pay him for sitting out games, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
ESPN Sources: Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have reached a settlement agreement on the grievance the All-Star guard filed to recoup a portion of the nearly $20 million withheld him as a result of his failure to play games in the 2021-2022 season. Story soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2022Simmons filed a grievance back on Apr. 2 to challenge the nearly $20 million of salary withheld from him by Philadelphia, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Bobby Marks and Wojnarowski reported at the time.
The details of the settlement were not made available with both Simmons and the 76ers signing a confidentiality agreement, Wojnarowski added. Philadelphia maintained that Simmons was in breach of his contract after not showing up to the start of training camp and not playing in games during the pre-season and regular season with the point guard citing his mental health for his limited participation.
The grievance was filed with the NBAPA and was scheduled to go through an arbitration process which could have implications on future issues involving mental health matters and contracts, it was reported at the time.
Simmons and his representatives had reportedly held several conversations with Philadelphia in hopes of avoiding arbitration which then led to the grievance being filed.
The 76ers sent Simmons to the Nets as part of a blockbuster deal involving James Harden. Simmons did not play for the Nets after aggravating a back injury while ramping up his conditioning and for mental health reasons.
Simmons was given an epidural shot during the season in order to relieve pain from a herniated disk. After the Nets were swept out of the playoffs in the first round by the Boston Celtics, Simmons underwent successful microdiscectomy surgery in early May and was expected to need 3-4 months of recovery time.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith revealed on First Take that he spoke with Simmons who told him that he would be ready to go for the season.
