Ben Simmons' Brooklyn Nets debut has been pushed even further down the line.
Via ESPN, Nets coach Steve Nash announced Monday that Simmons won't play the rest of the regular season or the play-in tournament for one of the two final playoff spots while he deals with a herniated disk in his back.
Probably not much of a shocker to anyone though.
There's no timetable for when he will play again.
Since that infamous passed-up dunk against the Hawks in the playoffs last year, Simmons hasn't come close to returning to the court.
He requested a trade from the Sixers in the summer, showed up to camp but then stepped back citing not being mentally ready to play, then continued to stay away until the deadline deal for James Harden was made in February.
While he's been on the sideline and at the Nets' practice facility, progress has seemed very, very slow.
Simmons initially hinted that he wanted to return in time for March 10, when the Nets visited the Sixers for the first time after the trade. He missed that date. But he did come out for warmups and joined his new team on the sideline to watch Kevin Durant and the rest of Brooklyn blow out the Sixers, 129-100.
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It was an incredibly frustrating night at the Wells Fargo Center, both for the Sixers and their fans, after Simmons' months-long holdout left everyone in Philadelphia feeling burned.
Said Joel Embiid on JJ Redick's podcast The Old Man & The Three last week:
"I think it was more so...[the fans] didn't feel like...they were hurt. You know how much they wanted him to shoot the ball, how much they wanted him to be better in their own ways.
He's a great basketball player, he does so much on the basketball court that people should pay attention to. But they also felt like Year 1 to whatever year that was for him, they didn't see any improvement. I think that's the way I kind of understand, because when you look back at all the years, what was the biggest thing they wanted him to do? Shoot three or free throws or whatever that was, shooting in general.
I think they just felt like he had so long and there were no changes. I think that's what kind of started the whole thing about everybody being mad and all that stuff.
I think he embraced them. I don't know if they felt like he was genuine, but I feel like he embraced them." [The Old Man & The Three]
Simmons also filed a grievance against the Sixers last week for the nearly $20 million in salary he lost for sitting out.
As of Monday, Brooklyn is 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 40-38 record. They have a spot clinched in the play-in tournament, which begins next Tuesday, and will need to win twice to clinch the eighth and final seed. Simmons will not help them there.
The Sixers, meanwhile, 48-30, fourth in the conference, and trying to secure the best seeding possible with four games left to play. It's also the final push for Joel Embiid's MVP case.
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