Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey and head coach Doc Rivers addressed the media at the beginning of media day on Monday, with one topic at the forefront of everyone's mind: Ben Simmons.
Simmons did not show up in Philadelphia and reportedly told his teammates not to come out to Los Angeles and meet him.
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"Ben is a very good player," Morey said. "We are disappointed he's not here."
Do the Sixers know why Simmons is exactly forcing his way out of Philly?
"That's a good question," Rivers responded. "You know, it's a tough answer. Wanting to change places for whatever reason. It's tough to play here. But Ben didn't say that. But you got to assume that's probably a part of it."
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Morey said the Sixers are still optimistic Simmons returns to the team, mentioning this being a common situation in sports, specifically making reference to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"I think there's a lot of hope," Morey said when asked about Simmons returning. "Look, every situation is different, but we have a lot of optimism we can make it work here."
"Ben is a great player. We expect him back and we expect him to be a 76er."
Morey added that while he will not talk about specifics about fines when it comes to Simmons holding out, "It is pretty well defined in the CBA."
Rivers, as he has done previously, raved about Simmons' game, referencing other NBA greats that were not great shooters like Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, and Rajon Rondo.
"I've never heard the word soft associated with a guy who was second in defensive player of the year," Rivers said when asked specifically about Simmons being soft. "I think he creates as many threes as any guy in the league for our team. I don't understand why we don't see that?"
