“What Is Left for Him to Prove?”: Dennis Rodman Predicted the Fault in Guaranteed Contracts Long Before Ben Simmons’ Sixers Holdout

Things have not been going well for Ben Simmons since his last season with the Philadelphia 76ers. After a horrible performance in the playoffs in the 76ers’ Game 7 loss in the 2021 ECSF, Simmons sat out the 2021-22 season after disagreements with the team management. Earlier, he had a spat with Doc Rivers during practice, for which the team suspended him for one game. Eventually, he lost $20,000,000 for sitting out against the team’s will.

Moreover, Ben was also recovering from a back injury, which kept him out of action. Interestingly, in 1996, Dennis Rodman, in his book I Should Be Dead By Now, predicted the dangers of long-term NBA contracts. 

Teams in the league have started signing long-term contracts, especially with star players. Once the max contract is signed, the players get their money, regardless of their performances and the number of games they play throughout the years (excluding the clauses in the contract). Simmons, even after sitting out the season, made nearly $20 million because of his max contract.

After a disappointing season, Simmons sat out all of the 2021-22 season, which was also due to his lingering back injury. The 27-year-old did not attend the team’s training camp and eventually missed the preseason games. Citing his actions, the 76ers withheld his salary and fined him. They stopped fining Simmons after he said he wasn’t in a proper mental state to play games.

Eventually, he was traded to Brooklyn to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Ben had signed a $170 million max contract for five years with the team. He received his $33 million next season, but in total, the team fined him $19 million for sitting out. He had already received $16.5 million in advance before the season started.

Former Chicago Bulls legend Dennis Rodman wrote about the dangers of long-term contracts in the NBA. He perhaps predicted the extra power that such contracts might give to the player. Moreover, he added that teams are killing incentives, which have ceased to drive players to make money. Rodman wrote in his book I Should Be Dead By Now;

“Today you ain’t gotta fight for shit because they’re paying players millions no matter what. In the game today, you don’t have to do a damn thing…They are killing incentive. Say a player has a guaranteed contract in his pocket: $50 million for six years. What is there left for him to prove? What is there left for him to do? Nothing.”

ESPN Sources: Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have reached a settlement agreement on the grievance the All-Star guard filed to recoup a portion of the nearly $20 million withheld him as a result of his failure to play games in the 2021-2022 season. Story soon.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2022

In certain ways, these long-term contracts empower players, which was not the case in Dennis’s time. During his playing years, teams were more powerful than the players, which perhaps resulted in a bigger loss for the players.

Simmons recoups a part of his withheld $20 million from the 76ers

In August 2022, Simmons and the 76ers reached an agreement after the Brooklyn Nets star player filed to recoup a part of $20 million. The money was withheld from him after he sat out games. 

Simmons was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in August 2022, in the James Harden trade. He had a bad season with the Nets because of an apparent decline in his game on both sides of the floor.

However, in March 2022, the star guard was diagnosed with a back problem. Head coach Jacque Vaughan announced that Simmons would sit out for the entire season.