Ben Simmons’ road back didn’t start with a basket or a block, a pass or a play.
It started with a cut.
Not a quick move to the hoop but another kind of cut: a small incision in his back on May 5, 2022.
Now, nearly a 1 ¹/₂ years after having microdiscectomy surgery in Los Angeles to repair a herniated disc — check that, make it two herniated discs — Simmons is repairing his career in Brooklyn.
Simmons sat down with The Post and said he’s not going to be as good as he was when he made three straight All-Star Games.
He insists he can be better.
“I’m going to be better than I was,” Simmons said. “My job is just to show up, perform, work my ass off and lead this team the right way. So it’s doing all the little things, and everything else takes care of itself.”
Don’t think for a second Simmons didn’t hear all the doubt — he calls it slander — that he didn’t care about the game, that he was faking the injury, that he was a bust.
He’s just happy the two herniated discs — in the L4 and L5 areas — were caught when they were, after he missed 2021-22.
He’s just happy they were fixed well by Dr. Robert Watkins IV that day at Cedars-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital.
He’s just happy.
“I was pushing through that, so I’m not really worried about the slander,” Simmons said. “Obviously, it gets frustrating when you’ve got to listen to it all the time, when you’re not able to play your best and you’re playing injured. That’s part of it.
“At the same time, I’m one of those guys who wants to come out and perform and show I can do what I love to do at a high level. So I’m enjoying just being out here, putting on the show and trying to get better with these guys.”
Through training camp and the preseason, Simmons has looked like a new player or, more to the point, like his old self.
Even last season, clearly rushing back too quickly after surgery, he mustered career-lows of 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists before getting shut down.
Sources told The Post that, if Simmons had been healthy, Durant likely would’ve stayed with the Nets regardless of Kyrie Irving’s presence.
But that’s not how things played out.
“I was dealing with that all year. And that’s the frustrating part. You’re playing with KD and Ky; that’s part of it, too. Those are two guys you can definitely win with. If I was at my full strength, that’s a whole different situation,” Simmons said. “At the end of the day, it didn’t go down like that. But I was able to get healthy, and I’m happy to be in these positions with these guys.”
Happy is the operative word.
That’s how he looked when coach Jacque Vaughn saw him working out at the University of Miami.
It was the first time he’d seen him this way since taking over.
“One of the trips for me coming to see him in Miami, one of the most special times is me seeing him on the floor and him be able to explode and get up and down the floor,” Vaughn told The Post. “And I came over to him, and I just said, ‘The smile you have on your face is something I’ve been waiting to see.’ I’ve missed that.
“For me, the smile is whether he’s answering some of the doubters, whether he’s putting himself in a position to claim some of the accolades he has in the past. I love the fact that he’s enjoying being on the floor again, being around his teammates, enjoying playing the game of basketball. For me, that smile says it all.”
Both Simmons and Vaughn admitted their relationship was strained last season.
The coach was asking him to do things he wasn’t physically capable of doing, and the player wasn’t healthy or in the best headspace.
But Vaughn made multiple visits down to Coral Gables, Fla. to build that trust.
Spend five minutes around Simmons, and it’ll be clear how important that word is.
“It starts with how he’s put his body in a position to perform. He’s done the work behind closed doors to have himself ready to play. And that helps yourself mentally,” Vaughn said. “He’s in a pretty good place where he’s able to communicate with his teammates. It’s about winning. It’s about putting ourselves in a position to win ballgames, and he can impact the game in a variety of ways.”
Simmons teased that in limited preseason minutes, leading the Nets in assists and creating clean 3-point looks with his pace.
He was also second in steals and played disruptive defense.
“There’s always so much criticism out there, a lot of noise. But if you’re not healthy, you’re just unfairly judged,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But he’s moving great. And he’s always been a unique talent.”
Now that the Nets have not only got that unique talent healthy and (presumably) in the right headspace, they have to figure out how to use him.
That means spot shooters like Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale running to spots with precision and purpose.
“We laugh on the bus. I’m telling Do [Finney-Smith], ‘Yo, just trust me, space the floor. When you get it, knock them motherf–kers down. Shoot the ball.’ ” Simmons laughed. “It’s a fun thing when you come out here and get to compete at that level every day and you guys got your back; it’s just fun.
“I keep telling them I’m going to get you guys a lot of easy shots. And it’s just fun. When you’re able to play the game that way, and somebody’s going to look out for you and they trust you and you trust them, it’s a good satisfaction watching that type of basketball.”
