The saga involving Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons keeps getting stranger and stranger.
When he was traded to the Nets from the Philadelphia 76ers right before the trade deadline in the 2021-22 NBA season, fans and experts alike assumed that he would suit up for the team sooner rather than later.
In the end, Simmons never once played for the Nets during the regular season or postseason. The Nets lost to the Boston Celtics in an embarrassing four-game sweep in the first round.
Now, with the season in the history books for Simmons and the Nets, a bizarre rumor has begun to swirl around the league.
According to a report, Simmons’ close representation advised the player to sit on the team’s bench in his uniform rather than in flashy outfits that often made the rounds on social media during and after Nets games.
“Simmons, in theory, could have risen Monday morning and determined his back felt good enough to play,” Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote. “There had been various people close to him encouraging him to retake the floor, even under limited minutes, to establish a deeper connection with teammates ahead of next season, sources said. By all accounts his ailing back is not 100 percent healthy, but few NBA players at this stage of the playoffs are free from some form of nagging pain. Members of his representation and other close contacts even advised Simmons to at least sit on Brooklyn’s bench in his uniform and team warm-ups rather than the gaudy outfits that became a spectacle.”
Simmons was not on the Nets bench for the fourth and final game of the series between the Nets and Celtics.
It’s really hard to figure out where the story will go next for Simmons and the Nets. Clearly, the Nets have just endured one of the most disappointing seasons for an NBA team in recent memory. They were seen as clear title favorites entering the season and failed to win a single playoff game.
As for Simmons, no one knows when or if he will get back on the NBA court. Right now, anything seems like a possibility when it comes to his future in the league.
