Australian Ben Simmons may not feature at all this NBA season, after he was scratched by the Brooklyn Nets from tomorrow’s key play-off game.
The team had said several times that the aim for Simmons’ return would be game four of their play-off series against the Boston Celtics, but the injury report released 24 hours before that game made it clear that would not be the case.
With the Nets already trailing the best-of-seven series 3-0, it now means that he may not play in a game at all this season.
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Simmons has been battling a herniated disk in his back, but on multiple occasions during the week coach Steve Nash said the Australian was progressing without setbacks.
But he also cautioned there was still a lot to consider as they weighed inserting Simmons into a game when he hadn’t played since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last year for Philadelphia.
The 25-year-old reportedly woke up with back soreness today, and will now not play tomorrow.
The latest injury news has drawn almost universal derision from the basketball world.
https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/1518335062604869633https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1518345950711980037https://twitter.com/ReggieMillerTNT/status/1518332036179632130
“I feel bad for anybody who was his teammate,” NBA broadcaster Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN.
“He quit on LSU, he quit on the Philadelphia 76ers and now he ain’t showing up for the Brooklyn Nets.”
Smith pointed out that despite not playing, Simmons had earlier this month filed a grievance to challenge the nearly $20 million of salary withheld to him by the Philadelphia 76ers – from whom he was traded at the deadline to Brooklyn in a blockbuster deal.
“This is one of the most pathetic situations that I’ve ever seen in my life,” Smith said.
“He ain’t going to war, he ain’t going in the octagon, he’s not going in a boxing ring. It’s pulling teeth to get this man to play basketball.
“It’s pathetic, it’s sad, and at the end of the day when the NBA gets at the collective bargaining table and they go after the players in terms of a pay-for-play stipulation in the collective bargaining agreement, it’s going to be called the Ben Simmons rule.”
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