Ben Simmons believes he was treated unfairly by the media as he was unable to return to the court due to a back injury that required offseason surgery, and one ESPN commentator on on Simmons’ side.
Simmons retweeted a video that called out Stephen A. Smith, Shaq, Kendrick Perkins and others, all of whom argued that Simmons should have tried to play in the playoffs, if not sooner in the regular season.
According to Jalen Rose, many people owe Simmons an apology over the way they covered his injury following his surgery.
“You saw so many people calling him soft. You saw so many people saying he didn’t want it. If you look back at the film, not me, once. Because here’s my question. How did he pass a physical?
… A lot of people owe Ben Simmons apologies, today. Because athletes, like I told you, are not lining up to get shots in their back, which he did during the playoffs.”
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While some analysts may or may not have crossed the line in their criticism, swinging to the opposite end of the spectrum just because Simmons had back surgery seems a bit revisionist. Just because Simmons was recommended to have a procedure in the offseason does not invalidate the scrutiny over his status since the trade deadline.
By all accounts currently known, Simmons was healthy when traded, and suffered an injury of an unknown severity in the buildup to his return. Despite that, multiple reports corroborated that Simmons himself still planned to return in the playoffs, a comeback that was only called off at the last minute. It was reported for that Simmons had not been suffering from back pain for weeks leading up to Game 4. That it resurfaced is unfortunate, but it doesn’t mean that playing Simmons in Games 1, 2 or 3 should have never been considered.
This post originally appeared on Nets Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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