Nets’ Ben Simmons Out for Season with Lower Back Injury

The Brooklyn Nets are ruling guard Ben Simmons out for the rest of the 2023-24 season because of an ongoing left lower back nerve impingement injury, the team announced Thursday morning.

“Ben Simmons will remain out for the remainder of the season while he consults with specialists and explores treatment options for the nerve impingement in his lower back,” the Nets said in a statement.

“Simmons, along with his representatives and Nets medical personnel, are currently in discussions with numerous experts to determine the course of action that will provide him with the best opportunity for long-term sustainable health.”

Ben Simmons Medical Update:

Ben Simmons will remain out for the remainder of the season while he consults with specialists and explores treatment options for the nerve impingement in his lower back. Simmons, along with his representatives and Nets medical personnel, are…

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 7, 2024

Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie had hoped that Simmons would have been able to return this season.

“He’s still day-to-day, he’s still on the court. Hopefully we can get him back soon and get him ready for this playoff push that we have in March and April,” Ollie said.

Simmons, 27, appeared in just 15 games (12 starts) this season due to his back injury. The nerve impingement caused the guard to miss 38 consecutive games from Nov. 8 through Jan. 27.

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has played in just 57 out of a possible 190 games with the franchise

In his sixth NBA season and second with Brooklyn, Simmons averaged career lows of 6.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 23.9 minutes per game. Plus, he shot a career-best 58.1% from the field and a career-worst 40% at the foul line.

Simmons will enter the final season of his five-year, $177.2 million deal in 2024-25. His current contract was signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in July 2019. The LSU product is still owed $40.3 million next season.

The 6-foot-10 guard was selected No. 1 overall by the Sixers in the 2016 NBA Draft. Simmons earned three All-Star selections, two All-Defensive Team nods, and a third-team All-NBA honor across his five seasons with Philadelphia.

Over three seasons with the Nets, Ben Simmons has made $103.3 million

$1.82 million per game 😳😳

Legal robbery. pic.twitter.com/6VUp4HWH88

— The Brooklyn Way (@Jersey2Brooklyn) March 7, 2024

He sat out the 2021-22 season with Philadelphia until the team was able to send him to Brooklyn for James Harden. Simmons then wound up not playing for Brooklyn in the 2022 NBA Playoffs due to back issues.

According to the Basketball-Reference database, Simmons hasn’t played at least 70 games in a season since 2018-19 with the 76ers. The Australian hooper made 42 appearances last season before he was sidelined because of a similar back injury.

Since being acquired by the Nets in the Harden trade, Simmons will now have played in just 57 of a possible 190 games with the franchise. By mid-April, he will have missed 67 games with Brooklyn this season alone.

Despite appearing in only 57 games, Simmons has made $103.3 million with Brooklyn. In fact, that boils down to a ridiculous $1.82 million per game played. That should scare any general manager.

This could very well be the end of his NBA career.