Speaking to former Sixers teammate JJ Redick, Simmons said the team was “unhelpful” when they were in a “tough position.”
Ben Simmons opened up about his controversial time with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The NBA star, now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, spoke with former 76ers teammate JJ Redick about how he discern his mental health was “terrible” towards the end of his five seasons with the franchise.
“I was in a terrible place; I was like, shit, I was trying to get here, and you guys are throwing all this stuff at me where you guys aren’t helping,” Simmons told Reddick on The Old Man also the Three Podcasts. . “And all I want is help.”
“I don’t feel like I got it from the coach, the teammates – I’m not going to say all the teammates because there are great people in this team who have come forward and are still my friends – but I don’t feel like that I got it and it’s just a place that difficult for me.”
Simmons said that after struggling with mental health issues, he was kick out of training by trainer Doc Rivers, who called it a “distraction.” and remove from the team.
“I spoke to Doc before practice. I said, “Doc, I’m not ready.
I’m not mentally ready. Please understand that,” said Simmons. “I tried to tell him beforehand, and he said, ‘Well, I’m going to include you anyway.’ I said, “Okay.” He said to come in. I looked at him. It was like a minute of practice, like, “Ben, come in.”
“I think, first of all, nobody does that. You did this on purpose. I feel the same. It seems like everyone is trying to mess with me now. I was punish for not lifting weights, but physically I was one of the strongest on the damn team. Now I’m being punish for small things. It just builds. Obviously, I didn’t handle things right, but neither did the team and the people who had that power didn’t either.”