When Seth Rollins shocked the world by making his triumphant return to the WWE Universe at SummerSlam, cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat CM Punk, it took the professional sporting world by storm.

Weeks removed from suffering what some deemed a long-term knee injury, with b-roll walking around in crutches for good measure, Rollins showed that *spoiler alert* it was all a ruse, as he was capable of jogging down to the ring, beating down his rival, and executing a perfect curb stomp for the 1-2-3 mere minutes after Punk won the title off of Gunther.

This strategy, faking an injury to earn a competitive advantage, got noted WWE fan Bill Simmons thinking: could an NBA team pull off a similar strategy? Taking to social media after the main event of SummerSlam Night 1, The Ringer head honcho laid out his case.

“Seth Rollins just pulled off my favorite wrestling ploy – the long-play injury ruse — to steal the not-the-biggest title from Punk,” Simmons declared. “We really need an NBA star to try this in the playoffs.“
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Alright, so how would this work? Would a team like Simmons' beloved Boston Celtics boldly declare that Jayson Tatum was going to be out for the year, only to return for a choice playoff matchup against an unsuspecting rival? Or would an oft-injured player like Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid be listed as out, doubtful, or even just questionable for a game only to roll up ready for action, performing at the top of his game when others thought he'd be diminished?

Unfortunately for Simmons, the NBA doesn't write their storylines in the same way WWE does, so that sort of magical moment almost certainly couldn't happen in the association. Still, how cool would it be if someone pulled it off, especially another noted WWE fan like Tyrese Haliburton, who is expected to miss the season with an Achilles injury.

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