It looked like Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons was finally going to suit up in Monday's Game 4 against the Boston Celtics. But a day after the Nets lost again to the Celtics to go down 3-0 in the first-round series, Simmons was ruled out because of his back injury.
The Nets' immediate reaction to the news was that of disappointment, and ESPN's Brian Windhorst says “people involved” are “exasperated” with this whole saga:
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It's hard to blame them at this point. This whole Ben Simmons situation has been weird all season. From refusing to play for the Philadelphia 76ers to now not playing at all for the Nets after being traded for James Harden, there have been so many twists and turns with this drama. Brooklyn surely didn't see this coming after getting Simmons in the Harden trade, even if the team knew it would take a little while for him to be ready to play.
Maybe this back injury has been truly problematic this whole time. Back injuries can be tricky and debilitating. But there were so many signs that Simmons was about to be ready to play, and now that's up in smoke all of a sudden. As Windy says, it's all “extraordinarily disappointing.”
Meanwhile, Nets coach Steve Nash has been cryptic and coy the entire time. He's now claiming he never actually expected Simmons to play:
This seems like spin given everything leading up to this moment. Either way, this has been a disaster and the Nets' season could be over on Monday night.
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