Ben Simmons' standoff with the Philadelphia 76ers shows no sign of ending, even with the Australian facing the prospect of being slapped with fines of up to $400,000 per game.
Simmons has not shown up for the Sixers' training camp after demanding a trade and is prepared to sit out an entire season to force a move, according to new reports.
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The 25-year-old stands to lose an astronomical amount of money if he does indeed sit out the entire season.
According to ESPN's NBA salary guru Bobby Marks, Simmons will be hit with a $316,000 fine for every exhibition and regular season game he sits out, up to the 20th game of the season.
From that point onwards, the fines increase to a whopping $418,000 from games 21-82 in the regular season.
However, the prospect of being hit with such fines is not deterring Simmons, who is due to earn almost $46m this season as per his max contract.
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"When you talk to people close to Ben, I say: 'Okay, worst case scenario it takes all year, would he sit all year?'… and the answer right now is yes," veteran ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne told The Jump.
"Now, you can say that right now at the beginning of training camp, you can say that you're willing to sit all year if that's what it takes to get traded to a team that you feel more comfortable on.
"But let's see what happens when you really start missing cheques, you really start missing basketball, and the league moves on without you."
Despite the tough talk coming out of the Simmons camp, NBA analyst Zach Lowe predicted that the Australian would eventually come back this season.
"I think Simmons is showing up," he said on 'The Lowe Post'.
"I don't think this is a whole season holdout kind of thing. I don't think he's gonna wanna lose 30 whatever million dollars he makes. I don't know when I don't know if it's next week, I don't know if it's in two weeks.
"I don't know if it's in a month. I think Simmons is showing up."
The prospect, or threat, of sitting out an entire season comes just days after a report from The Athletic's Sam Amick which suggested that the Aussie believes his partnership with All-Star teammate Joel Embiid "has run its course".
"People who have intimate knowledge of how he sees this situation continue to insist that he's done playing with Embiid," Amick wrote.
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"There's nothing personal about this choice, it seems, but the 25-year-old Simmons has clearly decided that his career is better off without Embiid blocking the runways in the paint that he so badly needs to succeed.
"As he sees it, sources say, the organization's choice to build its basketball ecosystem around Embiid's style simply isn't conducive to the way he needs to play.
"So while Embiid insisted to reporters on Monday that he wants Simmons back, this much is clear: The feeling is not mutual."
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