Keep in mind when NBA Twitter, now NBA X, spent a complete season obsessing over the place Ben Simmons can be traded? It ended up being Brooklyn, and that ended up being the final time he was related to skilled basketball. The newest replace is there isn’t any replace, simply Simmons’ agent, Bernie Lee, falling on his consumer’s sword.
Since becoming a member of the Nets, the previous All-NBA guard has been hampered by again and psychological well being points. Sadly, the previous has restricted him to only 57 appearances out of a possible 128. This season, Simmons’ tally is simply 15 video games.
What’s the rationale, you ask? I’ll let Lee let you know (via SNY).
“It is a continuation of the same injury that he has dealt with all year. … We are trying to get clearer answers as to how to get him out of the reactive cycle he’s in.
“… We continue to try and find non-surgical options to allow Ben to move forward on a permanent basis and that is where this is my responsibility and I am [the] one to blame.
“When I began working with Ben I made a commitment to him that I would do everything I could to find the right answers and specialists for him to work with [in order] to move forward from the issues he has been having. Clearly it hasn’t happened and that’s my responsibility.”
That’s, uh, that’s one thing. Whereas Bernie’s intentions are good, the reasoning is silly. No matter occurred with Simmons’ again — it’s been dubbed a “nerve impingement” — has persevered, and although I’m removed from a medical skilled, that’s what often occurs with again issues.
So Lee can reward Simmons for taking “less than seven days off” all he needs, or put the onus on himself to seek out the right medical care, however he doesn’t should. To be trustworthy, it’s probably not possible for the previous No. 1 total choose to “resume his career at the levels he’s established prior to being injured.”
The higher query is likely to be: Does Ben need to resume his profession on the stage he established? It’s a reliable query. From every part I’ve heard, again points, particularly nerve ache, are the definition of debilitating. They’re additionally mysterious as a result of therapy varies, as do sufferers’ responses to them.
Different guys were able to gut out similar ailments — Paul Pierce and Tyson Chandler did it within the 2012-13 season with pinched nerves of their necks. The Celtic guard performed 77 video games, averaging 18, 6 and 4. Chandler logged 66 video games and made the Japanese Convention All-Star crew as a Knick. On the opposite aspect of the spectrum, Dwight Howard solely managed 9 appearances throughout his lone season in Washington because of a pinched nerve in his butt.
Of these three notable NBA hoopers, which one would you say Simmons closest resembles from a passion-for-the-game standpoint? All collectively now: “Dwight Howard.” Kobe Bryant famously hated Howard’s method to the sport, and the New York Post cited Simmons’ health as the rationale Kevin Durant bounced out of Brooklyn.
Whereas KD was traded halfway by final season, Simmons’ again stuff was an uncertainty since arriving from Philadelphia, and clearly, Durant wasn’t involved in ready round for no matter was incorrect to be fastened. As he’s instructed us by his actions, Simmons is greater than content material to relax courtside.
I’m not saying Ben Simmons isn’t harm. It’s probably he’s as a result of the 2023-24 Nets are his dream situation — zero accountability, sufficient empty stats to garner one other contract and high billing on the marquee. I’m simply saying if given the choice to relaxation, and nonetheless receives a commission the $38 million owed to him this 12 months, or play at lower than one hundred pc and threat extra public scorn, which do you suppose Ben Simmons would select?
