Ben Simmons ended the season as the most talked-about NBA player to never play a single game for the year. The Brooklyn Nets were unceremoniously eliminated by the Boston Celtics on Monday night with the former All-Star in street clothes the entire time.

The buzz was that he was set to make his return during the series, with Game 4 being set as the target date for his debut after nearly a calendar year on the sidelines. But with it suddenly turning into an elimination game, instead of rushing back from his back injury, he instead begged off.

According to a report from B/R's Jake Fischer, Ben Simmons was being nudged towards making a return and overcoming any minor mental or physical discomfort just to be there for his Nets teammates.

There had been various people close to him encouraging him to retake the floor, even under limited minutes, to establish a deeper connection with teammates ahead of next season, sources said. By all accounts his ailing back is not 100 percent healthy, but few NBA players at this stage of the playoffs are free from some form of nagging pain. Members of his representation and other close contacts even advised Simmons to at least sit on Brooklyn's bench in his uniform and team warm-ups rather than the gaudy outfits that became a spectacle.

The drama that Ben Simmons brought to Philadelphia seems to have seeped into his situation with the Nets. He already missed the entire regular season when most didn't expect that to be the case. But the playoff fake-out only made his place in the franchise feel that much more uncertain.

Instead, the Nets ruled Simmons out of Game 4 altogether, sources said, as a sense of fatigue from the situation and general disappointment seemed to permeate the franchise.

But for all the ramp-up concern and rightful consideration of back issues that have plagued Simmons for multiple seasons, it's quite clear that the mental aspect of Simmons' return to game action is the biggest hurdle standing between him and an NBA court.

The Brooklyn Nets will undoubtedly have Ben Simmons playing by next season. He'll have two offseasons worth of off time to get himself right for a return to basketball. But given how everything has unfolded thus far, you just never know with him.