Ben Simmons breaks silence about his back injury, mental health, shooting 3s and more
The New York Daily NewsSep 22, 2022
Nets star
Simmons also publicly denied a report suggesting he left a Nets team group chat after his teammates asked him whether or not he would play in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the
“No I didn’t,” he said. “That’s what I hate about the internet is fu---ng people just make anything up and it just gets taken too far… There was no one even talking in the group chat when we got to the playoffs. So, no, I didn’t leave a group chat.”
He also said that this Nets’ roster is like the 76ers’ roster “on steroids.”
“I think this team is a great fit for what I do and what I bring to the game,” he said. I think it’s Philly on steroids kind of, in terms of what we had when you [Redick] were there and
HOW SIMMONS HURT HIS BACK
Simmons had dealt with lingering back issues during his playing days in
“I was actually going up the stairs [when I hurt my back],” Simmons told Redick. “So initially I had some kind of soreness in my back when I was working out, then I went to go run up the stairs and my whole right side just dropped. And as soon as I went upstairs, I laid down and I could not move.”
Simmons received an epidural to alleviate the pain in his lower back and the shot allowed him to resume ramping up his conditioning. He ultimately never advanced to five-on-five workouts and had another back flare-up ahead of Game 4 against the Celtics.
Simmons underwent a microdiscectomy on the L4-5 disc in his lower back during the offseason.
“It’s tough,” he said. “The first few weeks I’m not doing anything, but I walked out of surgery.”
DOES SIMMONS NEED TO SHOOT THREES?
The biggest knock on Simmons’ game has been his inability to shoot perimeter jump shots. He is a perennial candidate for First Team All-Defense and is one of the NBA’s best playmakers and athletes at his size, but his reluctance to shoot jump shots is his Achilles heel.
Simmons, however, doesn’t believe he needs to shoot threes at a high clip because he creates open looks for his teammates.
From his season debut in 2017 through
“You’re hearing it [the narrative about my shooting]all the time from everybody, like fu---ng hell, get off my case,” Simmons said. “I do other things, too. I’m guarding the best players. I don’t think people respect that enough — what I bring to the court — because it’s a lot of s—t I’m bringing to the court and for me, I just wanna win. So people also don’t understand my goal is to purely win. I don’t go out there trying to have this many points. My goal is to win, so I’m trying to do whatever I can to help my team, but [the narrative around my shooting is] for sure frustrating, but that’s one of my weaknesses, so what, am I gonna get mad at people for saying it?”
Redick said he’d seen Simmons make threes in practice and in pickup games and asked if the narrative about his shooting got bigger than it should have been. Simmons said “for sure, 100 percent,” and said the narrative about his shooting started to weigh on him in games.
“They’re saying I can’t [shoot]. Should I not? I’m confused now,” he explained. “Like you don’t want me to shoot, but you want me to shoot? I don’t know. So it did f–-k with me a lot, but I found peace in a place where I was like ‘f—k it, it’s basketball.’ I’m great at the game, I need to go out there and show people what I can do and my talent.”
Simmons also suggested, though partially in jest, that we might see him shoot some threes in a Nets jersey.
“Yeah I need to,” he said with a laugh. “I need to just go out there and put some up. I’m shooting 20 threes again. Kevin’s wide-open? Nope.”
THE PLAY AGAINST THE HAWKS
Simmons gave his account of what happened when he decided not to dunk or lay the ball up in Game 7 against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals two seasons ago. Instead of scoring, he passed the ball to teammate
“In the moment I just spun [off of then Hawks forward
Simmons said that Hawks series compounded other issues he was having in his life and agreed — “for sure” — that both
“I’m already dealing with a lot just in life like a lot of people do, but it got to a point where after that series, I’m getting — from the people you’re supposed to get that support from or that comfort from — so it was a toll on me and mentally it killed me: no energy for anything,” he said. “Everyone goes through different struggles, some bigger than others, but everyone has their own battles and I think that was tough for me, just knowing I didn’t have that support from teammates.”
76ERS TRAINING CAMP HOLDOUT
The 76ers traded Simmons at the February trade deadline, but he requested to be traded during the previous offseason. After his request he attempted to attend training camp for two days, but Rivers kicked him out of practice for failing to participate in team drills.
Simmons said that he spoke to Rivers before practice and told him he wasn’t ready to practice and asked him not to play him in any drills.
“He said, ‘Well, I’m gonna put you in anyway,’” Simmons said. “It’s one minute into practice, and he’s like, ‘Ben, get in’. Nobody’s doing that. You’re doing this on purpose. And that’s how I felt, too. It seemed like everyone’s trying to f—k with me now. I’m getting fined for not lifting weights but physically I’m one of the strongest guys on the team. Obviously I didn’t handle things the right way, but, also, the team didn’t either.”
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