Brooklyn Nets All-Star guard Ben Simmons and his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, have reached a settlement agreement over the grievance filed by Simmons to recover some of the nearly $20 million withheld from him in due to his inability to play games in the 2021-2022 season, sources told ESPN on Monday.
The two sides have agreed to confidentiality over the exact financial settlement reached, sources said.
Simmons and the National Basketball Players Association filed the grievance in April after talks between Simmons’ representatives at Klutch Sports and the 76ers did not result in a settlement, sources said. The parties initiated arbitration proceedings but reached a settlement agreement before a judgment.
Philadelphia had repeatedly insisted that Simmons was in breach of his contract under the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and NBPA and had the right to recover money advanced to him before the season. After Simmons made a trade request, the 76ers argued that Simmons breached his player contract by not showing up at the start of training camp and refusing to play during the preseason and regular season.
Simmons arrived in Philadelphia late in the preseason, but cited his sanity as the reason his participation in team activities was so limited. The 76ers and Simmons disagreed on the degrees of access the team and its doctors have been given to Simmons to diagnose and affirm his mental health, sources said.
Simmons received full pay for his time with the Brooklyn Nets after a trade on February 10, although he never played a game for Brooklyn. Simmons underwent surgery to repair a disc injury in April and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in late September.
Simmons and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, asked for a trade at a post-season meeting after the three-time All-Star guard fell out with the team following a poor performance during a Eastern Conference Finals loss to Atlanta.
Simmons, the first pick in the 2016 NBA draft, was one of the league’s top defensemen and signed a five-year, $170 million max contract in 2019.
Beginning with Simmons’ first paycheck on November 15, Philadelphia began taking back the $360,000 per game salary for each game Simmons missed during the season. Because Simmons received a $16.5 million advance on his $33 million offseason salary, there was not enough money in each paycheck to cover per-game deductions.
The back injury first affected Simmons in the spring of the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season. He also reported back discomfort when he reported to Sixers training camp in October. The injury was evaluated and treated by Philadelphia team doctors, and he was cleared to return to basketball shortly thereafter.
That period was the only time Philadelphia did not find Simmons out of contract last season, sources said.
Bobby Marks and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
