Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons was recently diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his back. That injury will keep him out indefinitely, but Nets coach Jacque Vaughn is being realistic about Simmons’ timeline to return.
“For me as a coach, there’s some things that I can control, some things that I can’t control,” Vaughn said. “What I can’t control is the impingement. What I can control is getting this group ready to play. And then in all honesty, the realism that he’s probably not going to join us for the rest of the year … certainty will come once he continues to be looked at by specialists.”
After missing all of last season due to a holdout with the Philadelphia 76ers and subsequent back injury, Simmons appeared in 42 games for the Nets this season. He averaged career-lows across the board with 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
