Ben Simmons won't play in Game 4 for the Nets Monday night, and with Brooklyn's current trajectory, probably not at all for the year.
Despite earlier reports that Simmons was gearing up for a long-awaited Nets debut, he was ruled out once again after waking up with back soreness Sunday morning.
Head coach Steve Nash apparently never had his hopes up, per Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill.
Hard to blame him.
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Since the February trade gave the Sixers James Harden and finally got Simmons out of Philly, the former first overall pick has never looked close to actually returning to the court, despite talk from both him and the team that he would get there.
After Simmons was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season and the play-in tournament with a back injury, word was he would be available for the Nets in the later rounds of the playoffs provided they got there. His timetable jumped ahead to Games 4-6 of Brooklyn's first-round series against Boston, but by that point, even reporters themselves had a hard time buying what they were hearing.
Now we're here, where Simmons' biggest contribution to the Nets is looking completely ridiculous on the sidelines while they face getting swept.
Fun times for Brooklyn, frustration from basketball's best, and none of it a surprise to Sixers fans.
Just for comparison, Joel Embiid is playing through a torn ligament in his thumb.
Here's a Stephen A. Smith rant:
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