According to Andrew Jackson of Fox Sports Australia on Thursday, Brooklyn Nets star point guard Ben Simmons of Melbourne, Australia will miss a minimum of two additional weeks with a back injury. The specific injury is labeled as a lower back nerve impingement.
Simmons has not played since November 6. He in fact has only played six games all season, and has only reached double digits in point totals twice. Simmons scored 10 points in a 125-120 Nets loss to the Dallas Mavericks on October 27, and 11 points in a 133-121 Nets win over the Charlotte Hornets on October 30.
Simmons has a history of serious injuries. He did not play the entire 2016-17 season with the Philadelphia 76ers because of a foot injury, and did not play the entire 2021-22 season because of a holdout and back pain. It was during the 2021-22 season that the Nets acquired Simmons in a blockbuster trade from the 76ers for James Harden.
Then in 2022-23, Simmons only played 42 games because of problems with his back and knee. It was one of three seasons in Simmons’s career that he only played a partial schedule due to physical ailments. In 2019-20, he missed 25 games and the National Basketball Association postseason in the Orlando bubble due to back and knee injuries, and in 2020-21, Simmons missed 24 games due to knee and calf injuries.
It should be noted that Simmons was far more productive with the 76ers than Nets. While in Philadelphia, he reached double digits in scoring in points four times, was a NBA All-Star thrice, and led the NBA with 2.1 steals per game in 2019-20.
With the loss of Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie of Los Angeles, California has taken over point guard duties in Brooklyn. The Nets are ninth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 13 wins and 14 losses.
