Ben Simmons turns away teammates, won't budge on trade request

Philadelphia 76ers players wanted to travel to Los Angeles this week to meet with Ben Simmons and spend time convincing their All-Star teammate to commit to the 2021-22 season with them, but they were informed not to come and that Simmons did not want to meet, sources tell The Athletic.

Source: Shams Charania of The Athletic

ANALYSIS: The Athletic went on to report that, "the core leaders on the 76ers — such as Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Matisse Thybulle — and most of the team were set to take a jet to see Simmons before being turned away, sources said. Multiple sources said Simmons didn’t want his teammates, some of whom he considers friends, to make the Philadelphia-to-Los Angeles commute out of courtesy because he won’t change his mind on wanting a trade."

The 76ers training camp begins next week with Media Day on Monday and at this point it seems very unlikely that Simmons will be participating in either.