Ben Simmons rejects 76ers teammates in saddest trade twist yet

Ben Simmons is the loneliest man in Philadelphia as his ongoing trade saga took its saddest turn yet — providing proof he’s done with the 76ers.

Ben Simmons’ days in Philadelphia are numbered. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It’s too little, too late for Ben Simmons.

Not even his teammates — who the Aussie hopes will soon be former teammates — can change his mind according to the latest development in a messy break-up with Philadelphia.

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Simmons doesn’t want to play for the Sixers again and is preparing to be fined and even suspended for not showing up to pre-season camp as he aims to force a trade to another team.

Multiple franchises have been linked with interest in Simmons but so far the 76ers haven’t been able to agree on a suitable trade package to release the former No. 1 draft pick. It’s left the two parties in a tense standoff — Simmons is unwilling to suit up and Philly isn’t prepared to let him go without being adequately compensated with a big-name star.

On Sunday, NBA reporter Shams Charania revealed Simmons rejected an attempted intervention by 76ers stars as he turned his back on their advances.

“Philadelphia 76ers players wanted to take a jet to Los Angeles this week to meet with Ben Simmons, but were informed not to come and that the three-time All-Star did not want to meet,” Charania tweeted.

It’s been reported previously Simmons wants nothing to do with Philly management and has instructed all dialogue to go through his management. That he would extend his approach to snubbing his teammates is one of the saddest signs yet in the ongoing saga that has dominated the headlines this NBA off-season.

It was one of Simmons’ own teammates who played a part in the 25-year-old feeling betrayed by the 76ers after their season ended with a loss to Atlanta in the playoffs. Simmons was crucified for his unwillingness to shoot and horrible conversion rate from the free-throw line and felt abandoned after falling short of a championship tilt.

All-Star centre Joel Embiid said Simmons’ infamous pass under the rim was the moment that broke the 76ers’ season while coach Doc Rivers said he didn’t know if Simmons could lead the team to a championship as point guard.

Rivers tried to walk back from those comments this week as he implored Simmons to stay, but the relationship is damaged beyond repair.

Ben Simmons wants out of Philly. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP

Philadelphia star Matisse Thybulle — who was part of the Boomers’ bronze medal winning campaign at the Tokyo Olympics — believes Simmons was treated far too harshly in the aftermath of last season’s playoffs implosion.

Asked on TheOldMan&TheThree podcast if Simmons was “thrown under the bus”, Thybulle was keen to defend his comrade.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot to be said,” Thybulle explained. “To the last point you made — he was thrown under the bus — you asked me if I’d been booed or if people had been mad at me. I made the foul that lost us the last game, and I received almost no (criticism).

“There was a little bit on Twitter but like, the Ben hate was so much louder.

“I lost us the game which lost us the series and no one really spoke about it. They wanted to speak about (Simmons) passing up the dunk and passing it to me more than my foul.”

However, Thybulle suggested Simmons wasn’t entirely blameless as the bad blood between him and Philadelphia reached the point of no return.

“I think both sides play a decent role in it,” Thybulle said. “Neither side has really helped themselves in this situation.

“Whoever started it, whoever’s making it worse at this point, doesn’t really matter.

“On a human level as his teammate, as a friend, you hate to see people put in this situation that’s so heavily covered by the media because people lose sight of the human aspect of all of us as athletes, especially in these times, especially in controversial times where we’re looked at as a commodity.

“On a personal level I really do feel for him because this would suck for anybody.”