Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has not played in an NBA game in quite some time. While he has not played since Feb. 15 against the Atlanta Hawks, Simmons is still very much a part of the daily NBA conversation. Simmons was recently ruled out for the rest of this season because of a nerve impingement in his back.
Ever since the 2021 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Hawks as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Simmons has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons a majority of the time. In that fateful Game 7 when Simmons passed up a dunk, it seems that more happened than just a missed opportunity.
Since then, Simmons essentially withheld his services to force a trade out of Philadelphia. Despite getting what he wanted when he was traded to the Nets in exchange for James Harden in February of 2022, Simmons has either been hurt or ineffective and at times, looks uninterested in playing basketball. Former NBA great Kevin Garnett had some advice for Simmons:
“I don’t even like doing this, but I’m looking at a guy like Ben Simmons man. If you listening man, I want you to go back and find your roots man. Go back and find why you love playing the game man, straight up. You got a lot to give to the game bro, straight up.”
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