{"id":102088,"date":"2024-10-20T11:08:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T15:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=102088"},"modified":"2024-10-20T11:08:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T15:08:20","slug":"ben-simmons-faces-backlash-after-missing-preseason-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/20\/ben-simmons-faces-backlash-after-missing-preseason-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Simmons Faces Backlash After Missing Preseason Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Nets have been under scrutiny over the past five seasons<\/span>. Ever since the team acquired Ben\u00a0<\/span>Simmons in 2022, he has been at the center of criticism. His latest absence from a\u00a0<\/span>preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers has fueled displeasure and criticism. Let’s explore Simmons’ recent absence and the criticism attached to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben Simmons Faces Backlash After Missing Preseason Game<\/b><\/h2>\n

Nets Super Team<\/b><\/h3>\n

In 2019, the Nets decided to bring in <\/span>Kevin Durant<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Kyrie Irving<\/span><\/a> to form a super team\u00a0<\/span>with high expectations of becoming championship contenders. The 2019-2020 season was a bridge year<\/span>\u00a0as Durant was recovering from a torn Achilles he\u00a0<\/span>suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals. However, in the 2020-2021 season, the Nets\u2019 future looked\u00a0<\/span>brighter when the team traded for <\/span>James Harden.<\/span><\/a> Harden was acquired in a four-team deal that included the\u00a0<\/span>Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. In the trade for Harden, the Nets gave up<\/span> Jarrett Allen<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Taurean Prince<\/span><\/a>, Caris Levert<\/a>, and the rights to <\/span>Aleksandar Vezenkov<\/span><\/a>. Additionally, the Nets and the Cavaliers\u00a0<\/span>traded three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps to the Houston Rockets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben Simmons Is Acquired<\/b><\/h3>\n

In the 2021-2022 NBA season, Kyrie Irving missed time due to COVID-19 protocols<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>During this time, 76ers guard, <\/span>Ben Simmons<\/span><\/a> requested<\/a> to leave their\u00a0<\/span>organization and refused to play. A decision that cost him millions of dollars for not playing games,\u00a0<\/span>or attending team meetings and practices. Nets\u2019 guard Harden who started having\u00a0<\/span>issues with the organization that season wanted out, was traded<\/a> to the 76ers for\u00a0<\/span>Simmons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics,\u00a0<\/span>Simmons was expected to return but couldn\u2019t due to back soreness. Ultimately the Nets lost the series in\u00a0four games. Notably, Simmons missed the entire season as a result. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Nets’ dream of being a super team fell apart in the 2022-2023\u00a0<\/span>season. The Nets started a new era after Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Durant to the\u00a0<\/span>Phoenix Suns. Now the Nets are in a full rebuild which opens up opportunities for Simmons to revive his career.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fan Backlash<\/b><\/h3>\n

During his time with the Nets, Simmons has only played 57 games while\u00a0<\/span>missing 189 over the past three seasons. He recently underwent his second back\u00a0<\/span>surgery<\/a> in three years.\u00a0<\/span>During media day for the 2023-2024 season, Simmons told the YES Network<\/a> that he is\u00a0<\/span>fully healthy and ready to prove he can still play the game of basketball. This is an encouraging sign for Simmons and the Nets. However,\u00a0<\/span>Simmons missed the team\u2019s recent preseason game against the 76ers \u201cnot because he\u00a0<\/span>was hurt, but for precautionary reasons\u201d according to Coach Jordi Fernandez. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Many\u00a0<\/span>were quick to express their criticism<\/a> given Simmons’ history of refusing to\u00a0<\/span>play. The matchup being against his former team added to the criticism.\u00a0<\/span>Early in his career, Simmons<\/span>\u00a0was one of the best guards in the Eastern Conference due to his defense\u00a0<\/span>and court vision he was considered a future face of the league. His combination of size, playmaking, and defense made Simmons a unique star. Simmons is a three-time All-Star, two-time All-Defensive First Team\u00a0<\/span>member, and Rookie of the Year. However, before his injuries and refusal to play,\u00a0<\/span>Simmons was seen as a potential superstar. Now, he is in the final year of his five-year,\u00a0<\/span>$177 million contract, earning $40 million this season. To many, Simmons is playing for\u00a0<\/span>a contract this season and trying to show the Nets organization he wants to stay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upcoming Season<\/b><\/h3>\n

The rebuilding Nets will likely be one of the league’s worst teams this season. If the Nets have a bad season but Simmons is performing\u00a0<\/span>well, his trade value could be significant for teams looking to make a playoff push. For\u00a0<\/span>Simmons, if he wants the fans and the Nets to trust him again, he must consistently\u00a0<\/span>compete in games and stay healthy. This will be a crucial season for Simmons’ career and future in the league. Simmons’ role and production will be one of the interesting storylines of Brooklyn’s season.\u00a0The Nets’ season\u00a0opener against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Nets have been under scrutiny over the past five seasons. Ever since the team acquired Ben\u00a0Simmons in 2022, he has been at the center of criticism. His latest absence from a\u00a0preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers has fueled displeasure and criticism. Let’s explore Simmons’ recent absence and the criticism attached to it. Ben […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5340,"featured_media":102219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,6],"tags":[266],"class_list":["post-102088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-nets","tag-ben-simmons"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}