Ben Simmons’ latest tweet appears to be in response to a rumor involving him and his Brooklyn Nets teammates.
Ric Bucher recently stopped by FS1’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd and shared an alleged story about Simmons leaving the team’s group chat after being asked if he was going to play in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics. “They asked him, ‘Are you going to play?’ Ben left the chat,” Bucher said. “Like, he didn’t even answer the question, just left the chat. And KD [Nets teammate Kevin Durant] is like, this is what I signed up for…this is who I’m playing with?”
“Slow news day,” Simmons tweeted after Bucher’s appearance, along with a crying laughing emoji.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported ahead of Game 3 that Simmons planned on playing in Game 4 for somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes. The Nets star had already been ruled out for Game 3 due to lingering back issues, but appeared to be making strides towards a return by participating in scrimmages with the team.
At the time, Simmons classified his injury to reporters as “day-to-day,” and acknowledged he was primarily determined to “just keep building up to get back on the floor and play at that high level,” adding, “If I could play right now, I’d be on the court. So it is what it is.” When he didn’t play in Game 4, Simmons was criticized with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith leading the charge, calling the former No. 1 overall pick a “quitter” and alleging league owners will use his situation in their argument for a pay-for-play stipulation for the next collective bargaining agreement.
Less than two weeks after the Nets were eliminated from the playoffs, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Simmons would undergo a procedure to alleviate the pain from a herniated disc in his back.
The Simmons report comes shortly after Kevin Durant reportedly told Nets owner Joseph Tsai that he must decide between keeping him or general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash.
