The Ben Simmons injury saga truly never ends. The Nets star was recently diagnosed with a back issue that will keep him out for the foreseeable future.
Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is hurt. Again.
Simmons was recently diagnosed with a “nerve impingement in his back” after being re-evaluated on Friday and will be sidelined indefinitely as Brooklyn figures out the next course of treatment.
It’s the latest turn for the worse in Simmons’ injury saga; ever since Simmons got traded to the Nets, he’s played just 42 games. Prior to the injury announcement, Simmons hasn’t played since February 15 due to left knee soreness.
Last week, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn stated that Simmons was “progressing” in his recovery, and at the time, it seemed like the team was “operating” on the belief that Simmons would play again this season.
News of Simmons’ back issue — likely related to the injury that kept him out of all last season — cements Simmons’ previously cloudy future: the guard won’t be back the finish out the 2022 campaign.
Brooklyn Nets’ Ben Simmons succumbs to injury, declared out for the season
In the third year of his five-year, $177 million deal with the Nets, Simmons has averaged a career-low 6.9 pounds, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in the 2022-23 season.
In the wake of the bombshell Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant trades, the Nets received fresh blood in former Suns’ Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder, and Simmons has yet to log in any official practices with his new teammates.
The Nets currently sit in seventh in the East with a 39-34 record and face a tough end-of-season stretch to avoid the play-in tournament and make the postseason, coming off a morale-sinking loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
Simmons, once touted to help Brooklyn on its late run, already has a warm bench spot waiting for him for the final nine games. Brooklyn faces the Miami Heat next on Saturday.