Newly acquired Nets star Ben Simmons turned heads on Monday, when he was seen warming up with his new team prior to Brooklyn's easy win over the Kings at Barclays Center.
Simmons missed the game as he continues to ramp up his conditioning for his eventual Nets debut, but his sudden reappearance for a pregame team workout had some wondering about the mental health issues he had previously cited as reason for his holdout with his former team, the 76ers.
Prior to Monday night's game, Nets coach Steve Nash was asked about the status of Simmons' mental health situation. Nash seemed to indicate that Simmons' mental health was progressing, along with his physical conditioning.
“I think he’s in a pretty good state mentally," he told reporters, including Chris Milholen of SB Nation. "If we work with him in conjunction to his physical ramp-up to make sure he’s comfortable on and off the floor, I think he’ll be ready to play mentally when he’s physically ready.
“We have to put him in a position to have the necessary conditioning underneath him and to feel safe with it,” Nash added. “And then he also has to feel confident and comfortable that the time has come. So whenever that is, hopefully there’s a great partnership on those decisions.”
Reading the tea leaves, it seems like Simmons' emotional well-being won't be a deterrent to him suiting up for the Nets relatively soon after the blockbuster trade that sent him to Brooklyn in exchange for James Harden.
The development likely doesn't sit well with the 76ers or their fans, after Simmons sat out the entire season to date.
By citing mental health as reason for his holdout, Simmons and his camp laid the groundwork for a potential legal battle over the reported approximate $20 million he was fined by his former employers for failure to render services owed, as was previously reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
Of course, mental health issues aren't black and white. It's feasible Simmons' apparent distress was related specifically to playing for the 76ers. It was widely reported that he felt the team had scapegoated him for its disappointing second-round playoff exit last season. It's understandable why he'd want a fresh start elsewhere.
Further complicating matters is that Harden, the player for whom Simmons was traded, was widely reported to be unhappy with the Nets, and some had suggested he was faking or exaggerating injuries in his final days and weeks in Brooklyn in order to force a trade out of town.
On Monday, Harden was ruled out through the All-Star break, officially due to a nagging hamstring injury. The development would seem to suggest Harden was legitimately injured, but given the circumstances of his final days in Brooklyn and his well-documented ugly exit from the Houston Rockets, not everyone was buying it.
The saga seems to mark a turning point with respect to disputes between teams and their star players. Fair or not, the perception is that injuries, and perhaps more alarmingly mental health, can be used as a cudgel in a messy breakup.
Those are weighty accusations, especially given the trend in recent years toward greater understanding and sympathy for those struggling with their mental health, including in sports.
It's a losing proposition for journalists and fans alike, left to arrive at their own conclusions in the face of serious questions that are essentially unanswerable to all but the teams, players and those who treat them.
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