CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Ben Simmons has been suspended by the Philadelphia 76ers for one game due to conduct detrimental to the team. Simmons will miss the 76ers’ season opener Wednesday night at New Orleans.
The three-time All-Star guard was a holdout in training camp in the wake of his offseason trade demand. He reported last week after getting fined. He practiced Sunday and Monday with the Sixers. He was scheduled to practice and talk to the media on Tuesday.
Instead, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said he removed Simmons early from Tuesday's practice because he "thought he was a distraction."
Asked just the day before about cohesiveness on the team, Rivers said the chemistry will grow.
"It'll come back. I'm not that concerned right now with it," he said Monday. "They're interchanging. It's coming, and it just takes time now. So, chemistry is here. And I think overall our chemistry is phenomenal right now."
For the first time since Simmons ended his preseason holdout, reporters got to see him in practice on Monday. Video of Simmons playing defense, standing on the sideline by himself, and seeming to look disengaged has gone viral.
Rivers and the team he led to the best record in the Eastern Conference last season put their hands together in the middle of a huddle at the end of Monday's practice and counted off, "1-2-3! Together!"
Lingering outside the huddle, holding a basketball and looking uninterested was Simmons.
With Simmons focused and engaged, the Sixers would again be a team to beat in the East this season. But the Sixers will go without him Wednesday in New Orleans.
Simmons has dominated the headlines in Philadelphia since his baffling offseason trade request and then mystifying decision to report, showing up without warning last week. Since the, the media have been hoping to get an explanation from the point guard for why he wanted out of Philadelphia. And now that he's back, how long does he plan to stay.
Tyrese Maxey ran the offense with the first team in the portion of practice open to the media, and Simmons mostly stood in a corner stretching or dribbling the basketball. He played defense on one drill, then walked off the court without saying a word to a teammate.
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Rivers said Monday there is still no timeline for deciding when Simmons will be available to play.
"We're just going to take our time," Rivers said. "When it comes, I'll make that decision. I'm just going to wait and see and watch. The spirit has been so good. We're just going to keep going."
Newcomer Georges Niang declined to say much on the subject when he was asked what communication, if any, he had heard about when Simmons might play.
"I stay in my lane," he said, "because when you start getting out of your lane, you get hit by a Mack truck."
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Simmons, the No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft, was paired with Joel Embiid as the franchise cornerstones as the Sixers chase their first NBA championship since 1983.
Simmons, though, took the brunt of the blame for the top-seeded Sixers' second-round exit in last season's playoffs. He shot 34% from the free-throw line in the postseason and was reluctant to attempt a shot from anywhere on the floor late in games. That led to him spending critical minutes on the bench.
After practice, Embiid spoke up about his currently-problematic teammate.
"I don't care about that man, honestly," Embiid said. "He does what he wants."
He'd be the only missing starter from last season's run to the Eastern Conference's top seed. Embiid, Danny Green, Seth Curry and Tobias Harris form a solid first four. Sixers President Daryl Morey has fielded offers for Simmons, but has yet to find a package to his satisfaction for the enigmatic guard.
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AP sports writer Dan Gelston contributed to this report.