LOS ANGELES, CA — When the Los Angeles Clippers added Ben Simmons to their roster through the buyout market, they added a versatile player who could ideally play all five positions at a high level. In theory, adding a 6-foot-10, 28-year old forward with the frame of a power forward and the skills of a point guard is a no brainer.
But the majority of the headlines and talking points surrounding Simmons are the question marks around him. “Isn’t he always injured?” “Does he even love the game?” and “Has he even improved his game over the years?”
Simmons isn’t a loud presence off the court or even one that feels the need to come to his own defense when the entire world speaks on his name. But what the forward has had to endure over the last couple of years puts his NBA career and his continued fight in a different perspective.
Ben Simmons and his battle with recent injuries
Ben Simmons missed his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers due to a fractured foot. Over the next four seasons, Simmons proceeded to play 275 out of a possible 309 games, or 89 percent of his team’s games. Things started going awry when a back issue appeared during the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the first quarter of the February 22nd contest between the 76ers and Bucks, Simmons drove to the basket and drew a foul on Brook Lopez. He then appeared to take a light elbow to the lower left side of his back from Wesley Matthews upon landing.
“It immediately just locked up on me,” Simmons told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview before his home debut Sunday. “I could barely move. I stayed in to shoot the free throws and went to the back where they put me on one of those hospital beds and took me to the hospital.”
Simmons had just missed a game coming out of the All-Star break due to what the Sixers called, “back stiffness,” but it wasn’t expected to be something serious.
Unfortunately for him, This back issue was only the start of a recurring issue that would test not only his physical strength, but his mental fortitude as well.
Simmons was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade for James Harden, and both teams waived the physical examination portion in order to speed the deal’s processing through the league office.
Simmons missed the entire 2021-22 season due to his mental health holdout as well as the back injury. He played just 42 games with the Nets in 2022-23 and 15 games with them in 2023-24 as his back issues persisted.
In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, the now-Clippers forward discussed what he was dealing with privately as people questioned every aspect of his basketball life.
“I had two herniations,” Simmons told ClutchPoints. “I had two herniated discs, had a scary situation when I was with the Nets where I had lost some sensation in my left leg, and then we addressed that ASAP because it’s a serious thing. We got a handle on that. I had the surgery and then rehabbed last summer and just been focused on maintaining my back strength and core strength.”
Despite having one back surgery already in 2022, Ben Simmons was forced to undergo a second back surgery in a two-year span as he was simply unable to get rid of the discomfort and pain.
May 5, 2022: Ben Simmons undergoes successful microdiscectomy designed to alleviate pain caused by herniated disc.
March 24, 2023: Ben Simmons diagnosed with nerve impingement in back, out indefinitely.
March 14, 2024: Ben Simmons undergoes successful microscopic partial discectomy to alleviate nerve impingement.
Simmons tells ClutchPoints he suffered the first back injury that eventually required surgery by walking upstairs in his own house.
“One had happened earlier, and obviously you want to stay away from having surgeries and things like that, so we did everything we could to keep me out there and keep me going until, obviously, I had to have the surgery. That was for my best interest, so we did that the first time. It went all right, it went okay in terms of the rehab and how it’s feeling, and just had some other symptoms that were similar to the first one. I got another scan, then I had another herniation, so got that cleaned up the second time. And it was day and night in terms of how it was feeling, moving day-to-day with that second surgery.”
That led to the star player, whose strongest attributes were his size, physicality, strength, and speed, having to spend three consecutive offseasons rehabbing from injuries or surgery instead of trying to improve his game.
“It’s… It’s draining, to be honest with you,” Simmons recalled, staring off in the distance thinking of his response. “It’s not fun. Because at the end of the day, we sacrifice. So for me, I’m sacrificing my summer in terms of how I’m doing things, what I’m doing, where I’m living, everything. It comes down to just getting healthy and what’s best for me in terms of staying healthy and getting my body in the right place. It’s not fun, but it’s part of the job, too, so being in a situation like that, it’s super frustrating, but you have to have the right people around you and know what the goal is. I feel like I did that last summer, and it’s put me in a good place.”
The word, “rehabilitation,” doesn’t mean much to those who aren’t privy to what really goes into it. Not just over a three month offseason, but on a day-to-day level. That means showing up every single day for months knowing you won’t be touching a basketball until the latter portions of the recovery. To the players who have to change everything in order to make sure they’re able to return as soon as possible and avoid re-injury, it can be a grueling process.
“People don’t understand. It’s… It’s everything. It’s your recovery, it’s the strength work you’re doing, it’s the mobility work you do, and then oftentimes, you have injuries that affects other parts of your body where you’re compensating more, so it’s staying on top of everything in terms of your legs, your hips, your back, your knees. Everything plays a role in it. And it’s draining. It’s fatiguing. It’s all of those things, but it comes with it. Once you see it paying off in terms of your movement or your strength and things like that, it helps, but it’s tough. It’s not easy. I never want to see anybody go through that, but it’s a part of the game. I’ve done it before, and I continue to push through what I have to.
“It’s everything. It’s from diet, to sleep, to rest, to the daily patterns you’re doing in terms of movement, stretching, strength training, it’s everything. It’s a full-time job, but it’s what we get paid to do.”
Simmons entered this season pain free, and has been managed by both the Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers medical teams in order to make sure he’s as close to 100 percent as he can be.
Simmons played 33 of a possible games with the Nets, with nine absences due to back-to-back scheduling and a couple of others due to nagging injuries. He also just came off a seven-game absence with the Clippers due to inflammation in his left knee after taking a hit from Lakers center Trey Jemison III during the first of two Lakers home games on February 28th.
“If it was easy, everybody would be doing it, you know?” Ben Simmons continued. “I mean, I’ve had two back surgeries, I’ve been dealing with my knee, but for me, I’m just going to keep going. That’s just how my mindset is when you have a setback.
“There’s always times of doubt and things like that, but I think it’s just who you are. For me, I’m just not built in a way where I’m just going to stop and not try and attempt to get back and get healthy. So that’s just how I am. I just, I love playing the game. It’s all I know. It’s what I do at a high level. And this is a part of the job.”
While constantly battling with his body to rehab injuries that could be considered career-altering, Ben Simmons has seen his name thrown around negatively on by talking heads, on sports podcasts, and in news reports around the country.
Simmons sees it. He sees everything people say about him, but he’s never felt the need to publicly defend himself. On a number of occasions, he could’ve publicly shot down certain pieces of speculation or hypotheticals involving his name.
“The brother don’t miss the checks. The checks keep coming in… Ain’t nobody asking you to go on the front lines in Ukraine against Russia, it’s about playing basketball! … Show the hell up! … Earn your money!”
Stephen A. Smith on Ben Simmons
pic.twitter.com/LtwilOP3HD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 30, 2023
“What the h*** happened?!”
Stephen A. Smith sounds off on Ben Simmons situation
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 11, 2022
Skip Bayless says Ben Simmons has Demon Soreness ??? #NetsWorld
H/T @undisputed pic.twitter.com/D3Olv4b2Db
— NetsKingdom
(@NetsKingdomAJ) February 1, 2023
“He’s lucky he’s not in prison for theft… I’m sure of all the places he could really get focused and zero in on his basketball prowess. He’s going to pick Miami?… He [doesn’t] love the game.”
Stephen A. Smith on Ben Simmons
(via @theOGsShow)pic.twitter.com/MpMnseKH8F
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 13, 2024
Why I’m pissed off at Ben Simmons pic.twitter.com/Fieux2n4te
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) August 31, 2023
“That’s them making shit up,” Simmons told ClutchPoints. “Like, imagine if I just said like, name whoever, and said whatever. It doesn’t hold any weight, you know? Like, where does it come from? It’s just their thought, it’s their opinion, and everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but I’ve been doing this my whole life since I was four years old. So nothing is going to change that. Yeah, nothing’s just going to change that out of nowhere.
“For the league, it 100% [has a negative domino effect]. Because nothing’s really valid now. Everyone can say what they want, and I mean, it is what it is. That’s where the world’s going in terms of covering the sport. But like… Who… Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot I can say, but it’s just, you can’t, I’m not going to change everyone’s opinion. It’s not my job.”
Ben Simmons says it takes something really powerful or negative about him to speak out and defend himself, which hasn’t happened yet. But he does a lot that’s said about him, especially given how prevalent social media has become.
“I think you always care to an extent. You don’t want people saying bad things about you, but it’s got to be a bad thing for me to really be pissed off. People say what they want. At the end of the day, that doesn’t affect my day-to-day, you know? So I just do what I do. I come to work, work hard, and do my job.
“I’ve got a strong support system, a small circle. None of those people who say things about me were in the gym with me in the summer. None of those people were there when I had surgery, when I could barely walk, you know? So there’s not much to really comment on in terms of what people say, because they also don’t know. They don’t have the facts.”
And for those questioning the 28-year old’s passion for the game of basketball, Simmons has a simple message.
“Basketball is my life,” Simmons admitted to ClutchPoints. “I don’t want to play with my life. So that’s who I am. It’s in the family, it’s in the blood. This is what I do. It’s like walking. I love it. This is just what I do. Wake up, basketball’s my thing. And I love the game. I love the opportunities it’s given me in life and my family. So, I mean, even when I step away from the game one day, I’ll still be involved in some aspect, whether it’s coaching, whether it’s helping the youth and giving back. That’s just what I’m going to do.
Ben Simmons isn’t blameless in any of his shortcomings. But he’s also a guy whose been dealt tough hand after tough hand trying to come out on top. He works and operates with the belief that it will all work out for him in the end.
“I want to get to 100 percent and then everything else will handle itself.”
The post Exclusive: Ben Simmons opens up on private battle with injuries amid constant criticism appeared first on ClutchPoints.
