3x NBA All-Star Ben Simmons has been limited to just six games this season following a series of injuries to his hip and back. It will be at least two weeks before we see Ben on an NBA basketball court again but it will likely be even longer than that before he finally returns to action. In a rare chat with the media this week, Simmons expressed mild frustration over his banged-up body and maintained that he still wants to help the Nets win games this season.
“It’s probably one of the most frustrating points in my career,” said Simmons. “I wanna be out there and help [the Nets] win and compete… at the end of the day, it’s a part of sports. Not every game is promised, injuries happen.”
Ben Simmons said the last two months have "probably been one of the most frustrating points in his career":
“I wanna be out there and help my team win and compete. But at the end of the day, it’s a part of sports. Not every game is promised, injuries happen." pic.twitter.com/vD8cAVKTLA
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) December 23, 2023
Simmons has been out since early November and there is currently no timetable for a return. According to Ben, there aren’t any expectations at all for his recovery process and it suggests that he’s nowhere close to suiting up right now.
“I have no expectations. I just come in here every day and work,” said Simmons. “I think that’s one of the things about having injuries like this. I’ve known not to put too much pressure on the exact date or whatever it is. It’s just continuing to get better and get to a point where you can play.”
It remains to be seen if Ben can get healthy and return to action, but everybody knows that the problems lie deeper with No. 10 and he’s on the fast track to exile from the league when his current contract expires in 2025.
A Sharp Decline For Simmons
The story of Ben’s downfall begins in the 2021 playoffs. After averaging 14.3 points per game in the regular season, Simmons was supposed to lead the 76ers to their best playoff run in years. Instead, Ben was completely exposed on the floor and the 76ers lost in the semifinals in a shocking upset against Trae Young and the Hawks. Ben completely lost his confidence in the series, famously turning down an open dunk down the stretch of the game.
After the Sixers lost the series, Ben was called out by both Embiid and head coach Doc Rivers, who later told the media that he was “unsure” if Ben could become a championship-winning point guard. Simmons requested a trade a few weeks later and it’s been all downhill ever since. Today, Ben’s value in the league is at an all-time low. Besides being consistently unavailable for various reasons, Ben’s play on the court has taken a massive slide and this season he’s down to just 6.5 points per game in 31.6 minutes of play.
Brooklyn Nets Are Stuck In The Middle
For a team that once had Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets failed in many ways to capitalize on their title window. The “big three” were dominant together but the team never figured out how to keep them under control in the locker room.
Arguably their biggest sin of all was trading away James Harden in the 2021-22 season. Instead of giving their stars more time to work things out, the Nets panicked and traded him to the 76ers for a guy in Simmons who hadn’t played all season. Needless to say, the Nets took a major step back in talent that day and trading James was really the first step in the downfall of the Durant-Irving era. With two years left on his deal, there’s still time for Ben to make it up to Nets fans but that outcome is looking increasingly unlikely as he misses more and more time this season.
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