Ben Simmons and the 76ers have reached a settlement on the grievance over withheld pay for the 2021-22 season, 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, 2022
Back in April, Simmons and the National Basketball Players Association filed a grievance against the 76ers over money that was withheld from missing games and practices prior to being traded to the Nets.
According to Wojnarowski, "both sides entered an arbitration process but reached a settlement agreement prior to judgment."
Why did Simmons and the NBPA file a grievance against the 76ers and how much money was settled upon? The Sporting News has answers to both questions below.
MORE: Reports, rumors on 2022-23 NBA schedule release
Why did Ben Simmons file a grievance against 76ers?
Simmons filed a grievance against the 76ers to challenge the roughly $20 million of salary that was withheld from him due to missing games and practices during the 2021-22 season.
The 76ers claimed Simmons breached his contract by failing to show up and take part in team activities such as practices and games, but Simmons cited his mental health as the reason he didn't participate.
Simmons "disagreed" with the access that the team and its doctors were given to diagnose and affirm his mental health. Although the two sides tried to resolve the matter without arbitration, those talks reportedly ended without a resolution, which led to the filing of the grievance, according to Wojnarowski.
However, the two sides reached an agreement ahead of the scheduled arbitration.
What was the settlement between Ben Simmons and 76ers?
Wojnarowski reported, "Both sides agreed to confidentiality on the exact financial settlement reached."
Simmons filed a grievance for "roughly $20 million" back in April, but the portion of that retained is unknown.
Unrelated to the grievance settlement, it is worth noting that when Simmons was traded to the Nets, he received his full salary from Brooklyn from the time of the trade through the end of the playoffs despite not playing a single game.
In 2021-22, Simmons' was set to earn just over $33 million.
He was on the Nets for 27 of the team's 82 regular season games, which means he net ~$10,878,881 (27/82x33M). He was also entitled to an additional $23,169 for Brooklyn's first round playoff appearance, per the NBA's collectively bargained playoff pool of money.
Simmons is currently on a five-year, $170 max contract that he signed in the 2019 offseason. He has three more years remaining on the deal before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
