Ben Simmons being the most heavily fined NBA player in league history always comes as a shock to a lot of people, mostly because he’d never had any particularly memorable on-court brawls, which is where the heftiest fines usually come from. However, his fines aren’t a result of violent on-court behavior, but rather his decision to give up on his team and sit out games to force a trade.
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When All The Smoke podcast’s Instagram page made a video about the most fined NBA players in history, the name at the top stood out the most. Simmons’ whopping $17 million in fines was so big that even Tracy McGrady couldn’t believe it.
He replied to the video on Instagram, simply using one word to relay his emotions. “Damn,” he wrote, which pretty much sums up how most people reacted to the news.
Tracy McGrady himself was no stranger when it comes to behaving so badly on the court that it got him fined. In 2004 when he was playing for Orlando Magic, McGrady was penalised $10,000 for kicking a basketball twice into the stands after the referee did not award a foul in an intense matchup against Denver Nuggets. McGrady’s layup was blocked by Chris Andersen. It saw T-Mac getting ejected as well, in what was one of the most controversial moments of the season.
Coming back to Simmons, he was amongst the highest paid players in the NBA per game not too long ago. That amount approximately stood at $446,791. The irony is that with those fines, Simmons was penalised $360,000 per game.
Had those fines not come in, Simmons’ total NBA earnings till date could have perhaps crossed the $220 million mark today. Of course, those fines weren’t just a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Back in 2022, Simmons, while coming back from an extended injury break, was fined by his team for every game he didn’t play for them, resulting in the 76ers withholding nearly $20 million of his salary.
In fact, out of the $20 million, $1.96 million alone came from Simmons missing multiple games in the 2021-22 season, even when he was fit to play.
He eventually filed a grievance against the Philly side and was able to recoup some of his losses, bringing the overall number down closer to the $17 million we’ve become used to. Had Simmons’ trade with the Nets not happened, those fines could have mounted easily to $30 million, according to some pundits.
Once labeled the next LeBron James, Simmons’ career never really was the same after his feud with the Sixers, and looking back at what has happened to him now, he may be regretting his decision to sit games out.
A once-promising career was derailed by injuries and unwillingness to play, but Simmons was slowly getting back to playing shape on the Nets. However, their decision to waive him back in February came as a shock to people, mostly because it meant that Simmons’ career may have been over.
The Clippers emerged as a savior for the Aussie guard and signed him to a minimum value, 1 year contract. While he still hasn’t reached the highs that he was once prophesized to, he does have some sort of a chance to get himself a better contract next year if he can display glimpses of the type of play that made him famous.
