Sixers news: Ben Simmons' 'selfish' trade holdout could backfire against all NBA players

Kendrick Perkins not only expressed his disappointment Ben Simmons' Sixers holdout, branding him as "selfish" in his decision to only look out for himself.

Ben Simmons is reportedly holding out entirely from playing nice with the Philadelphia 76ers, with an outright refusal to attend training camp and zero plans to suit up for the team ever again, according to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

ESPN Sources: Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons will not report for opening of training camp next week and intends to never play another game for the franchise. Simmons hasn’t spoken to team since a late August meeting when he communicated this message to Sixers officials.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2021

In the latest episode of The Jump, former player and now ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins not only expressed his disappointment for the move, he branded the Sixers star as “selfish” in his decision to only look after number one.

“My thing why I'm disappointed in Ben Simmons is that you have a job,” Perkins said of the Sixers star. “You have an obligation. You're getting paid a whole lot of money. There's guys before you who paved the way to make a lot of money. It's your obligation to uphold that so that other guys that come behind you could get paid the same amount of dollars.”

Perkins held firm on his stance that despite his frustrations, Ben Simmons should not have gone nuclear against the franchise that agreed to sign him to a max contract. The outspoken ex-center went even further, detailing the ramifications the Sixers star's holdout could have on future players come future collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the NBA and its players association.

“What's gonna happen is the next CBA, owners are gonna come up, and this is the first thing they're gonna bring up. Hold on, we cannot be paying guys $150 to $250 million over five years.I think he's being selfish and he's not worrying about nobody else but Ben Simmons. You have to do your part because others paved the way for you.”

There's indeed a high probability that Kendrick Perkins' prediction will come true. Owners from around the league are watching the Ben Simmons doomsday scenario unfold on the Sixers and will want to create safeguards against that ever happening again. Ben Simmons' trade drama may reach a conclusion in the coming weeks or months, but its effects could go far beyond this beef's expiration date.