The Brooklyn Nets Don’t Anticipate Ben Simmons Returning to Play Basketball This Season
The Brooklyn Nets Don’t Anticipate Ben Simmons Returning to Play Basketball This Season
What was supposed to be Ben Simmons‘ big comeback season and title chase for the Brooklyn Nets has fizzled quicker than a wet firecracker in the winter.
According to The Associated Press, three-time NBA All-Star Simmons may have played his last game of the season after marking 16 straight games he was not on the basketball court for the Brooklyn Nets. He is currently suffering from nerve impingement. In this particular instance, this condition, where tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers is happening in his back.
Over the weekend, Brooklyn Nets coach, Jacque Vaughn stated that they won’t know officially until Simmons is seen by a back specialist.
When the Nets played in Miami on Saturday, it was the 16th straight game in a row that Simmons has missed, making it the 32nd time he was absent in 74 Nets games this season.
“For me as a coach, there’s some things that I can control, some things that I can’t control,” Vaughn said. “What I can’t control is the impingement. What I can control is getting this group ready to play. And then in all honesty, the realism that he’s probably not going to join us for the rest of the year … certainty will come once he continues to be looked at by specialists.”
Simmons did not play one single game after joining the Nets in a midseason trade with the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden. After putting up a poor performance in the playoffs almost two years ago for the 76ers, he did not take the court initially last season stating that he was suffering from mental health issues. His back injury extended his lost season last year. and then a back injury.
The Brooklyn Nets did announce last week that the former 76ers player will continue to miss games “while we determine the best long-term course of treatment.”
Vaughn also added, “We’re going to lean into the specialist and the consultation and I think those answers will come from the specialists.”
That spot on the bench is extremely expensive. Simmons is bringing home making $35.4 million this season and is slated to make $78.2 million over the next two seasons.
The Brooklyn Nets Don’t Anticipate Ben Simmons Returning to Play Basketball This Season
