This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
The Brooklyn Nets sure don’t look like the team everyone thought they might be in the NBA postseason.
Maybe it was too much to expect Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — along with a mostly-veteran supporting cast with some aging names — to carry the load against a stifling Boston Celtics defense.
Even before the team faced a win-or-go-home scenario, it seemed a little weird to expect the Nets would take any risks with Ben Simmons, who has spent weeks trying to come back from a herniated disc.
And now? It’s even more ridiculous.
That’s what I keep coming back to as I see clip after clip and tweet after tweet of everyone collectively roasting the former Sixers guard for missing Monday night’s Game 4 (can’t wait to see what he wears on the sidelines for this one!).
Have you thought about the fact that maybe it’s the Nets and not the guard himself who are concerned about Simmons playing what could be a meaningless game? That his back issues could get worse and leak into next season?
And then there’s another what-if: The last time we saw Simmons in the NBA, he clearly wasn’t himself, passing up an easy layup in Game 7 of the Eastern Semis against the Hawks. What if that’s still the case? Bringing him back in a must-win game, let alone a pressure-filled playoff series, seems like a situation that could be fraught.
Let him wait until next season. It’s the smartest thing for all parties, and particularly now that the Nets are all but finished. I know it’s a bummer for NBA fans who want to see what Simmons can do now that he’s no playing with Joel Embiid.
But it’s the smartest long-term strategy for Simmons and the Nets.
Quick hits: Our last NFL mock draft! … Kyle Schwarber goes off on Angel Hernandez … and more.
— IT’S NFL DRAFT WEEK! Let’s kick it off with Christian D’Andrea’s final mock of the year.
— Kyle Schwarber did what so many MLB fans wanted to do with Angel Hernandez and went off on the umpire.
— Here’s Mary Clarke’s ranking of all the current NHL alternate jerseys.