{"id":77790,"date":"2024-03-05T18:59:49","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T18:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/the-latest-scapegoat-for-ben-simmons-back-issues-his-agent\/"},"modified":"2024-03-05T18:59:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T18:59:49","slug":"the-latest-scapegoat-for-ben-simmons-back-issues-his-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/the-latest-scapegoat-for-ben-simmons-back-issues-his-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"The latest scapegoat for Ben Simmons\u2019 back issues? His agent"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Remember when NBA Twitter, now NBA X, spent an entire season obsessing over where Ben Simmons would be traded? It ended up being Brooklyn, and that ended up being the last time he was relevant to professional basketball. The latest update is there is no update, just Simmons\u2019 agent, Bernie Lee, falling on his client\u2019s sword. <\/p>\n

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Why Ben Simmons is the NBA’s Jay Cutler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since joining the Nets, the former All-NBA guard has been hampered by back and mental health issues. Unfortunately, the former has limited him to just 57 appearances out of a possible 128<\/a><\/span>. This season, Simmons\u2019 tally is just 15 games. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the reason, you ask? I\u2019ll let Lee tell you (via SNY<\/a><\/span>). <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is a continuation of the same injury that he has dealt with all year. \u2026 We are trying to get clearer answers as to how to get him out of the reactive cycle he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

\u201c… We continue to try and find non-surgical options to allow Ben to move forward on a permanent basis and that is where this is my responsibility and I am [the] one to blame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I began working with Ben I made a commitment to him that I would do everything I could to find the right answers and specialists for him to work with [in order] to move forward from the issues he has been having. Clearly it hasn\u2019t happened and that\u2019s my responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s, uh, that\u2019s something. While Bernie\u2019s intentions are good, the reasoning is foolish. Whatever happened with Simmons\u2019 back \u2014 it\u2019s been dubbed a \u201cnerve impingement\u201d \u2014 has persisted, and though I\u2019m far from a medical professional, that\u2019s what usually happens with back problems. <\/p>\n

So Lee can praise Simmons for taking \u201cless than seven days off\u201d all he wants, or put the onus on himself to find the proper medical care, but he doesn\u2019t have to. To be honest, it\u2019s likely impossible for the former No. 1 overall pick to \u201cresume his career at the levels he\u2019s established prior to being injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

The better question might be: Does Ben want to resume his career at the level he established? It\u2019s a legitimate question. From everything I\u2019ve heard, back issues, especially nerve pain, are the definition of debilitating. They\u2019re also mysterious because treatment varies, as do patients\u2019 responses to them. <\/p>\n

Other guys were able to gut out similar ailments<\/a><\/span> \u2014 Paul Pierce and Tyson Chandler did it in the 2012-13 season with pinched nerves in their necks. The Celtic guard played 77 games, averaging 18, 6 and 4. Chandler logged 66 games and made the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a Knick. On the other side of the spectrum, Dwight Howard only managed nine appearances during his lone season in Washington as a result of a pinched nerve in his butt. <\/p>\n

Of those three notable NBA hoopers, which one would you say Simmons closest resembles from a passion-for-the-game standpoint? All together now: \u201cDwight Howard.\u201d Kobe Bryant famously hated Howard\u2019s approach to the game, and the New York Post cited Simmons\u2019 health<\/a><\/span> as the reason Kevin Durant bounced out of Brooklyn. <\/p>\n

While KD was traded midway through last season, Simmons\u2019 back stuff was an uncertainty since arriving from Philadelphia, and clearly, Durant wasn\u2019t interested in waiting around for whatever was wrong to be fixed. As he\u2019s told us through his actions, Simmons is more than content to chill courtside.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying Ben Simmons isn\u2019t hurt. It\u2019s likely he is because the 2023-24 Nets are his dream scenario \u2014 zero accountability, enough empty stats to garner another contract and top billing on the marquee. I\u2019m just saying if given the option to rest, and still get paid the $38 million owed to him this year, or play at less than 100 percent and risk more public scorn, which do you think Ben Simmons would choose?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Remember when NBA Twitter, now NBA X, spent an entire season obsessing over where Ben Simmons would be traded? It ended up being Brooklyn, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}