Participation trophy-ass NBA awards Ben Simmons a year of service because he held out, according to Zach Lowe at ESPN.com:

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, released late last month ahead of free agency, came with a previously undisclosed side letter indicating Ben Simmons has received credit for a year of service for the season in which he held out from the Philadelphia 76ers and was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets, sources familiar with the matter told ESPN on Wednesday.

Years of service come into play when determining whether players are eligible for maximum contracts of certain sizes and for other benefits. Counting the 2021-22 season at issue, Simmons now has seven official years of service in the NBA. Officials from several teams had argued Simmons should not receive credit for the 2021-22 season, sources said.

Soft. I hate when people compare pro sports to regular jobs because they’re two totally different landscapes, but I’m going to be a hypocrite and do that for this one.

Imagine not showing up to your job all year because you’re mad at your co-workers and management, but still receiving a large portion of your pay and full bennys. Then they transfer you to a new location within the company. The year you didn’t show up to work counts toward your pension. AFTER you filed for disability at your new spot and got paid in full there, too. It’s an all-time grift, don’t get me wrong. He’s made almost $70 million playing 42 games. $1.6 million for every time he’s suited up. That’s ridiculous and apparently won’t ever happen again in the NBA:

The side letter is intended as a standalone, applying only to Simmons, and is not intended to set precedent for future cases, sources told ESPN.

If you believe Adam Silver won’t let this happen again, I’ve got beachfront property in Idaho I’d like to sell you. Star players run the league. Fully guaranteed contracts are out of control. They hold teams hostage and players force their way to Miami or LA with holdouts. There’s a chance it happens to the Sixers twice in three seasons depending on how ugly the James Harden situation gets. That’s insane. How do you run a league like this?

P.S. This definitely explains Ben Simmons’ IG story from a couple days ago:


https://twitter.com/cinxeo/status/1679909524533297152?s=20