Ben Simmons won’t play again this NBA season ending hopes of playing with the Boomers in Paris
Any hopes of Ben Simmons in green and gold the year appear to be dashed with the Aussie star ruled out for the rest of the NBA season due to ongoing injury issues.
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Any hope Ben Simmons would play for the Boomers at the Paris Olympics has been dashed, with the Aussie ruled out for the remainder of the NBA season.
Brooklyn Nets issued a statement overnight revealing Simmons would not play again this season as he explores treatment options for the nerve impingement in his back that has plagued him for almost two years and kept him off the floor since a February 27 win over Memphis.
“Simmons, along with his representatives and Nets medical personnel, are currently in discussions with numerous experts to determine the course of action that will provide him with the best opportunity for long-term sustainable health,” the statement read.
That last sentence is especially worrying because it suggests the Nets aren’t focused on the former Rookie of the Year’s basketball, they’re concerned for the Victorian’s future wellbeing, given he’s dealt with ongoing nerve issues following a May 2022 microdiscectomy – a surgical procedure the involved removal of a small fragment of a herniated disc.
Boomers coach Brian Goorjian met with Simmons in the US in December, both sides eager to see the gifted 208cm multi-positional talent in a Boomers uniform at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
But Goorjian’s promise of a spot on the national team has always come with the caveat Simmons was both healthy and playing quality basketball.
Ben Simmons Medical Update:
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 7, 2024
Ben Simmons will remain out for the remainder of the season while he consults with specialists and explores treatment options for the nerve impingement in his lower back. Simmons, along with his representatives and Nets medical personnel, are…
“Face-to-face, right from his mouth, Ben said ‘I want to play on the national team’,” Goorjian, on December 30, said.
“The main thing from him was he definitely wants to play and is totally frustrated now with the stir up with his back and wants to get healthy.
“Since I’ve been involved in this (Boomers), it’s been the same situation for me — he’s not playing for the Boomers if he’s not playing in the NBA.
“For the last two years, he hasn’t been able to get healthy and get through a season but, If he’s out on the court for the Nets from the (NBA) All-Star break and he gets going, he’s a piece that we just don’t have.”
Earlier this week, Simmons’ agent Bernie Lee told SNY he shouldered the blame for the Aussies inability to recover from the serious back issue.
“We are trying to get clearer answers as to how to get him out of the reactive cycle he’s in,” Lee said.
“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.
Lee, who took Simmons on after he parted ways with LeBron James’ agency Kluch Sports Group in March last year, hailed his client’s work ethic, steadfast in his belief the son of NBL legend Dave Simmons would make it back to an NBA floor.
“In the year I have worked with Ben he has taken less than seven days off,” Lee said.
“In my almost 20 years doing this (it) isn’t something I’ve seen.
“So the thought that he is doing everything asked of him but not getting the results is something that, in no way shape or form, sits right with me, and I am committed to finding him the right people and the right answers – and we will.
“Come the off-season, we’re going to implement some processes and outside input that’ll allow him to finally move forward from this ongoing issue and resume his career at the levels he’s established prior to being injured.”
Australian basketball fans have long pined for Simmons to wear a green and gold jersey and, while the former No. 1 draft pick’s decision to snub the national team on multiple occasions has turned large sections of the country’s sports-mad public against him, if injury was to keep him off the court for good, it would be a tragedy – and one of Australian sport’s great ‘what-ifs’, given his unique gifts.
In a career plagued by injury Simmons will have earned more than US$170 million by the end of next season, which he is owed US$40 million.
The three-time NBA All-Star sat out the entirety of his first season with a broken foot and missed the whole 2021-22 campaign, holding out on Philadelphia before he was traded to the Nets.
At his best, Simmons is one of the best defenders on the planet and his unique blend of size, unselfishness, court vision and ball-handling allowed him to play as a giant point guard. But his struggles with a variety of ailments across eight NBA seasons have forced him to miss 318 of a possible 636 regular season games.
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