Ben Simmons' agent, Rich Paul, claims that the actions taken by Philadelphia to get a player back to play for a team are taking a toll on his mental health, according to a report by Shams Charania of Athletic.
As you may recall, Simmons was quoted as saying that he was not "mentally ready" to return to the basketball court.
"I truly believe that the fines, the focus, the negative publicity that accompanies the issue in the media - are very unnecessary and have contributed to Ben's mental health problems," the agent told Charania.
"Either you help Ben, or you go out and say he's lying."
Charania's report also included a response from a Sixers official who rejected Paul's claim that the Australian star was forced to play and is called a liar.
The club believes Simmons should participate in the group's activities until there is an opinion from mental health experts who will determine that he is unable to do so.
The Sixers insist that they take care of the player's health, and that they provide him with the resources he needs - both for his mental condition and for his back injury.
"If Ben has repeatedly shown behavior that makes him mentally unwilling to play, hug him. Support him. We need to remove our ego from him, we all need to take responsibility," the agent added.
It is further written that Simmons is willing for his personal physician to cooperate with the Sixers' own physicians to decide how to best deal with his mental health.