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The Brooklyn Nets appear to be getting a fully healthy Ben Simmons entering this season. In a new admission about his letdown 2023-24 campaign, Simmons said that wasn't the case last year.
“I feel physically ready to play at a high level,” he said when asked if he feels different this training camp. “Last year, I got to the point where I was good enough to get on the court, but I wasn’t 100 percent, which was the situation. It was it was, but at the end of the day, I’m here now, and this is the situation. I feel great. I put a lot of time and work in.”
“I was playing with another herniated disc, so that was probably a big reason why,” he continued when asked if anything changed in his rehab process. “This is my second surgery in a couple years. Same situation, different area in the back, but I’m cleared now and I feel great and ready to go.”
Asked Ben Simmons if he feels different this training camp compared to last year:
“Yeah, I feel physically ready play at a high level. Last year, I got to the point where I was good enough to get on the court, but I wasn’t 100 percent.“ pic.twitter.com/4HklxXFo3S
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) October 4, 2024
The three-time All-Star's comments about his prior limitations are a heel turn from what he said last summer. After a seven-month rehab process, Simmons told Andscape's Marc J. Spears that he was 100 percent entering last year's training camp.
However, he played only six games before he was sidelined by a nerve impingement due to a herniated disc. The same injury forced Brooklyn to shut him down the prior season, although in a different area of his back.
Simmons returned for nine more games late in the season before he had to be shut down again. He underwent surgery on the disc in May, his second in two years.
Following the procedure, Simmons claims he is physically in a different place than last training camp. But after two straight seasons cut short by back injuries, was anything done differently during his latest rehab to inspire hope of a different outcome?
“Yeah, I think just different eyes, a different surgeon,” he said. “Honestly, compared to the last surgery I feel a lot different, a lot freer. I didn't have any setbacks throughout the process of the rehab, which is the most positive thing for me. It tells me that the surgery was successful.”
Contradictory quotes and unclear injury reports have been par for the course during Simmons' Nets tenure. While he claims this year is different, talk is cheap, and he'll have to prove it on the court.
The 28-year-old's contract situation throws a new wrinkle into the equation this season. Simmons is entering the final year of a five-year, $177 million deal. After appearing in 57 of 254 games over the last three seasons, he'll have to stay on the court for an extended period if he hopes to earn another payday.
With Brooklyn trading Mikal Bridges and pivoting to a rebuild, Simmons faces the lowest team expectations of his career. Despite the Nets' new timeline and the Aussie's injury history, they appear committed to including him as a focal point of their rotation. Head coach Jordi Fernandez said Simmons will compete with Dennis Schroder for the starting point guard spot.
Simmons will return to game action for the first time in over seven months when the Nets open the preseason Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
