Ben Simmons, a three-time All-Star guard for the Brooklyn Nets, is scheduled to visit with a back specialist on Monday, according to the team’s head coach Jacque Vaughn, who stated on Saturday that the Nets do not anticipate Simmons to play again for them this season.
Simmons is now sidelined because of what the Nets believe to be a nerve impingement in his back. Nerve impingement is a disease that occurs when tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers.
Simmons has now missed 16 consecutive games in a row and has played in only 32 of the 74 games that the Nets have played this season. Saturday’s game in Miami was his 32nd absence overall.
“There are some things that I can control as a coach, and there are some things that I can’t manage,” Vaughn said. “For me, as a coach, there are some things that I can control.” “The impingement is something I have no control over. Getting this team game-ready is something I have complete command over. And then, to tell you the truth, the realization that it’s quite unlikely he’ll be able to join us for the rest of the year… Certainty will emerge as soon as he undergoes additional evaluation by doctors.
On Friday, the Nets announced that Simmons will remain on the injured reserve list “until we assess the best long-term course of therapy.” That meaning is not entirely clear now, and the Nets will know what it signifies once Simmons undergoes additional testing.
Vaughn said, “We are going to put more emphasis on the specialist and the consultation, and I believe that the answers will come from the specialists.”
Simmons is a three-time All-Star who did not play at all during the previous season due to first citing concerns with his mental health and then citing an injury to his back. After beginning the last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, he was later dealt to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the deal that brought James Harden to the 76ers.
This season, he has been out for games due to some injuries, including pain in his left knee, a strain in his left calf, and an issue with his back.
Simmons is having the worst statistical season of his professional career. He is shooting only 44% from the free throw line and is averaging only 6.9 points per game, despite the fact that he has never scored less than 14.3 points per game in any of the prior four seasons in which he has played.
On February 15, he informed reporters that he was still determining his position with the team. This prompted Vaughn to declare in response that the organization likewise needed to figure out how to employ Simmons with new lineups following the trades of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. His last game was on February 15.
Simmons will make $35.4 million this season, and he is owed an additional $78.2 million over the next two seasons.
