The Brooklyn Nets have announced Ben Simmons will be out for the remainder of the season, as he continues dealing with nerve impingement in his lower back.
Simmons' career has torpedoed since being traded to Brooklyn in the James Harden deal in 2022. In Philly, he was a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA first-team defender, averaging 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game.
After the Sixers lost Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, where Simmons infamously passed up an open dunk late in the game, Simmons sat out 2021-22 and has played a total of just 57 games since - and Philly radio took him to task Thursday morning when the news broke.
"Really at this point, does he want to come back and play again?" Jon Ritchie said on Thursday's 94WIP Morning Show, reacting to the news. "I don't know. I always doubted his desire to play, his love of basketball and now the body not cooperating."
"He's really become irrelevant in the NBA," Joe DeCamara replied. "He's just a joke."
Simmons, 27, signed a five-year max contract worth $177 million in July of 2019 with the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons was fined $1.4 million in October of 2021 for refusing to participate in preseason games and practices and was then traded to the Nets in February of 2022 for James Harden.
Simmons has a base salary of $37.9 million in 2023-24 and a base salary of $40.4 million in 2024-25 before his guaranteed contract expires.