Sixers' Doc Rivers Downplays Ben Simmons' 'Mysterious' Departure From Brooklyn
The last few days have been quite hectic for the Philadelphia 76ers. As the team's starting shooting guard Seth Curry returned a positive COVID-19 test on the road in Brooklyn last Thursday, he was sent into quarantine within moments of the results.
However, since Curry traveled with the team and sat on the bench throughout the first quarter, the 76ers were eventually told they would have to quarantine in New York on Thursday night and would resume testing on Friday night, before eventually returning to Philly early on Saturday morning.
By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, the Sixers had nine players available to play against the Denver Nuggets. But then the Sixers suddenly ruled out Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, giving the team seven available players.
Simmons was dealing with knee stiffness and swelling. While some questioned the injury since Simmons wasn't listed on the injury report on Friday night, Simmons didn't travel to Atlanta for Monday night's game either as he was reportedly still undergoing treatment on his knee.
The way the situation unfolded was odd, but another report from Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill threw in a strange twist. According to Goodwill, Simmons left New York last Thursday night by ordering his own ride to get back to Philly.
"What I have gathered was that Ben Simmons left New York that evening [on Thursday]. He left New York and went to Philadelphia.
This is like some serious stuff. So, they find out, Ben Simmons has to come back, and magically he ends up on the injury report the next day, not playing. Now, who knows how you want to connect the dots. That's for us to do here on the Posted Up podcast. We are just going to present the water for you and allow you to drink it."
On Tuesday night, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers had an opportunity to address the rumors that made it seem as if Simmons bent the rules and broke quarantine last week. While Rivers didn't deny the report, he painted a much different picture of what the situation seemed like.
"It wasn't reported the way it sounds," Rivers explained. "Obviously, that night, we were all in disarray. A bunch of guys were ordering cars because we thought that we could all go back home. Ben was on his way. I called him and told him he couldn't [go back to Philly] because of league protocols, and he just turned around and came back."
Rivers admitted he was ready to find a ride home for himself as well as the Sixers were unclear on what was going to happen next. Ultimately, the NBA decided it would be best for the Sixers to remain quarantined in New York until late Friday night.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
