Ben Simmons clears a big hurdle as he eyes NBA return with Nets

After being examined earlier this month, Ben Simmons has received some promising news as he tries to get back on the court.

Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 25, 2023 in Philadelphia. Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

After being examined earlier this month, Ben Simmons has been cleared to take the next step in his return to play.

Presumably those next steps are on a court.

“Ben has been cleared to progress to his next stage of his rehab and is progressing really well,” Simmons’ agent Bernie Lee told The New York Post this week.

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“And we remain very excited about his ability to return to form next year.”

Return to form covers a huge expanse between Simmons’ intermittent and ineffectual play for Brooklyn this past season and his impressive level when he made three consecutive All-Star games for Philadelphia from 2019-21.

But the Nets have privately admitted getting Simmons back on the floor and on pace for at least a productive 2023-24 campaign is arguably their most important offseason job.

The 26-year-old’s return has been stop-start with seemingly endless hurdles, but this news - along with his recent return to on-court workouts - means he’s cleared several important ones.

Ben Simmons (No.10) battled injuries for large parts of the 2022-23 season. Photo: Ronald Cortes/Getty Images via AFP

Following Simmons’ microdiscectomy surgery for a herniated L-4 disk on May 5, 2022, several experts told The Post that it could take 18 months for the nerves to fully recover - meaning roughly a month into next season - and there was a chance he could require a follow-up surgery.

After the Nets shut Simmons, the team’s highest paid player, down for the season with a nerve impingement, that concern only grew.

“He’s checking the boxes on meeting different markers along the way; so at this point he does not need surgery,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said last month.

“That is the hope going forward, that he will not have to endure another surgery and we can keep progressing. The timeline for this is that he’ll be back 100 per cent probably by September 1. That would be the goal and he’s a full-go in training camp and ready to go.”

Simmons had already returned to working out at HSS Training Center, posting multiple early-morning pictures on Instagram a couple of weeks ago.

Ben Simmons has been cleared to progress to his next stage of his rehab 👀, per his agent

(Via @NYPost_Lewis ) pic.twitter.com/5e4c5wJnie

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 18, 2023

And on Wednesday morning he shared an Instagram story from on the court at the University of Miami along with the caption “Day by day” and three face with steam emojis, representing him putting in work.

After holding out in Philadelphia (citing mental health issues and his bad back), Simmons got traded for former MVP James Harden in February 2022.

He missed the rest of that season and appeared in just 42 games this past season.

After posting career averages of 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists, he mustered averages of just 6.9 points, 6.3 boards and 6.1 assists this season for Brooklyn, all career lows.

“The group around Ben has noticed a complete change in Ben’s focus and mentality [through] this rehab and how he has attacked it and engaged with everything,” a source familiar with the situation told The Post.

Simmons, who had expressed interest in playing for Australia in the FIBA World Cup in late August and early September, was left off the Boomers’ preliminary 18-man roster last week.

“I’m currently rehabilitating my back injury and putting my full effort and focus towards that,” Simmons told The Daily Telegraph.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Ben Simmons clears a big hurdle as he eyes NBA return with Nets