Blue Checkmark Brigade Should Be Careful to Hitch Their Wagon to Ben Simmons’ Mental Health Agenda

In the newest Philly Fans vs National Media battle of the ages, the topic has turned to the discourse surrounding Ben Simmons’ mental health issues. After refusing to play for the Sixers this year citing mental health issues, Simmons showed up on the Nets bench last night all smiles after being dealt to Brooklyn just last week.

It was a peculiar sight for Philly fans considering they had been told since late October that Simmons was not in the right headspace to play basketball. And, many voiced their suspicions about how quickly Simmons was able to recover. This led to an online lecture led by notable blue checkmark frequent Twitter users, Mina Kimes and Torrey Smith.

How dare those savage Philly fans poke holes in Ben Simmons mental health issues?! They would have a point. It’s fair to say Simmons likely faces some sort of mental barrier or issue that impacted his play. He looked like a shell of himself in the playoffs last season. Before that, there were rumors during the regular season involving his step-brother assaulting his sister. He truly could be impacted by both on and off-court issues.

But what the misinformed National Media is missing is two very important aspects they don’t seem to understand:

1. Ben Simmons and his “camp” never cited any mental health issues until the Sixers fined Simmons

Rich Paul, Simmons agent, told Daryl Morey and Sixers brass a few days after the season ended that they wanted a trade. Later in the summer, Morey, Doc Rivers and other flew west to meet with Simmons and pitch him on coming back. Simmons and Paul steadfast on wanting a trade. Sixers teammates planned a similar trip and were told not to come.

Simmons didn’t show up for training camp on time. By the time he did, he practiced with a cell phone in his pocket. He was later kicked out of practice for refusing to participate in a drill. This prompted a suspension for the season opener and a fine from the team.

The team began fining Simmons for his lack of participation in practice and games. It was during this time Bill Simmons floated a theory surrounding mental health on the Bill Simmons podcast:

Within ONE DAY of the release of this, Paul began stating that Simmons was incapable of playing due to mental health issues.

The team asked Simmons to speak with team doctors who could help with any mental health issues. Simmons declined and stated he wanted to work with his own therapist. The team asked that they get reports on Simmons status as he worked with a theorist which Simmons pushed back on as well.

The timing of the mental health reasoning behind Simmons absence aligns with the time he began being fined daily by the Sixers.

THAT’S why fans are suspicious of his claims that he wasn’t mentally ready to play.

2. National Media Talking Heads Did Most of Attacking Ben Simmons, While Philly Fans Defended Him

Woof, busy morning for Mina Kimes deleting tweets where she joked about Simmons shortcomings. Too bad the internet lives forever:

There are plenty of examples of blue checkmark accounts going through the same cycle this past 24 hours. It’s a microcosm for their existence on social media as a whole. They follow the trends when they are cool in order to create engagement for their accounts. When it was appealing to make fun of Ben Simmons, especially this summer, the National media pundits had constant jokes and attacks. The ESPY’s ran a skit thanking Ben Simmons for his bricks to build homes for orphans (who writes this stuff).

This dates all the way back to Simmons rookie year when social media ran wild with a meme of Simmons holding Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 sign but edited to be a “1” after a one point playoff performance.

Now that the discourse has changed surrounding Simmons, they parade him as a champion of mental health and are scapegoating Philly fans for criticizing him?

It’s hypocrisy at its finest, and it’s how they make a living.

I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason. That logic likely applies to the Ben Simmons saga here. If he would’ve come out in July and admitted he was in a dark place that impacted his play on the court. It’s safe to assume Philly likely would’ve forgiven him and rallied around him. The evidence lies in how we as a collective supported the likes of Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks. So, Ben Simmons likely would’ve been treated the same way. And at the end of the 2022 season, we’d be right back where we started: frustrated that the Sixers were out of the playoffs because their point guard was an offensive liability. At the time it would be evident to EVERYONE, the real issue Simmons faces is an accountability one.

Instead, the Sixers have landed James Harden after coveting a player of his offensive caliber for almost two years. Simmons got his wish to be shipped out of town so he can have a fresh start. Watching Harden drain step-back threes in practice is a beautiful sight after dealing with 5 years of a point guard who’s former coach publicly begged him to take ONE jump shot a game. One.

Everything worked out in the end. The Sixers got their dynamic playmaking guard. Ben Simmons extended his ability to escape accountability for his offensive skillset plateauing.

How we got to the end was an unmitigated mess, considering we are now in a full fledged debate surrounding the grey area that is understanding mental health issues. Which was probably Klutch Sports strategy from the beginning.