When it rains, it pours for the Brooklyn Nets. Just when we got the disappointing update that NYC Mayor Eric Adams doesn't want to make any exceptions to allow an unvaccinated Kyrie Irving to get back out on the court for home games, we have more bad news. It sounds like Ben Simmons has suffered a possibly significant setback while ramping up for his return to play.

The Nets have been listing Simmons as out with “return to competition reconditioning.”

Simmons hasn't played in a game since the 2021 Game 7 playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks, when Simmons was still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. We heard recently from coach Steve Nash that the biggest obstacle to his return was conditioning. Nash went out of his way to downplay the severity of his back injury just days ago. 

So things were still looking good when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said Simmons was actually “on the heels of Kevin Durant” in terms of his pending return. With KD perhaps targeting Thursday's game vs. the Miami Heat this week, that might have indicated we could see Simmons shortly thereafter, right?

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Maybe not, based on this:

On an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said Simmons has had a setback:

McAfee: “Yeah, what's that all about? Everybody thinks he's doing that just to miss the Sixers game March 10.”

Charania: “No, no. He's dealing with a flare-up in his back. The Nets are saying that it's something to be expected and something that we're just gonna treat day-to-day … but there was an expectation that by now he was gonna be really on the cusp of his comeback and that's probably not gonna be the case because he had a flare-up with his back, I'm told, during his ramp-up process. So now he's gonna need to strengthen that back area before he can make his return to the floor. … The back is tricky, so Ben Simmons, it could take him a few weeks, it could take him a week, it could take him, you never know with the back. And so I think there is hope and optimism that at some point before the regular season he's gonna be back on the floor, but in the meantime, he's gonna have to rehab that back.”

If fans were worried that Simmons simply didn't want to face a hostile environment in Philly for a showdown game, like McAfee suggests, this is arguably far worse.

Charania goes on to talk about how Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been out for a long time with a back issue. Green's last game was Jan. 9. For Nets fans, hearing that there is “optimism” that Simmons might play before the regular season finishes, well, it's not exactly an “optimistic” update.

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And it comes on the same day we heard NYC Mayor Adams say this:

Durant, as noted, is set to return imminently. Who knows about Simmons, as Shams says. Simmons missed a chunk of games in 2020 with a rather serious back issue, which likely would have cost him the rest of that season had things not been postponed for the onset of this pandemic. Oh, by the way, that's the same pandemic that factors into why Irving is only eligible for another seven games this regular season.

Hopefully, there's good news on Simmons soon and this isn't a serious setback. The Nets are 32-29 and currently holding the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, which would mean a spot in the play-in tournament if that holds. These are definitely scary hours.