Brooklyn Nets swingman Ben Simmons has been cleared for contact but his return is still unclear. ESPN says that;
Nets head coach Steve Nash ruled Simmons out of Wednesday’s Game 2, but he left the door open for Simmons’ return at some point in Brooklyn’s first-round series against the Boston Celtics.
“He’s making progress,” Nash said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’ll just see how he responds and see if he’s able to do more contact [Wednesday].”
Nash said that Simmons’ first day of contact was actually during a Monday workout when he was able to play 4-on-4 with some of his teammates.
“So far, so good,” Nash said of how Simmons came through the workout. “I think he managed yesterday’s activity well.”
Simmons spent much of his post-practice time that the media was able to see on Tuesday working with Nets shooting instructor Kyle Korver on his form. When asked specifically if there was a chance Simmons might be able to play in Saturday’s Game 3, Nash was noncommittal about the possibility.
“I wouldn’t be able to say anything about that because I’m not even sure how he’s going to get through these weeks,” Nash said. “We have to also consider it’s a nine-month absence or whatever it is, so it’s not just like he had a six-week absence, so I think this is a pretty unique scenario. It’s not as linear as maybe the other kind of in-season injuries.”
Steve Nash had this to say about Ben Simmons playing in a full 5-on-5 scrimmage;
“He’s probably not going to do 5-on-5 because we don’t have 10 guys,” Nash said. “It will probably be 4-on-4 again — so it’s really trying to put him in an environment where he can start to build up and see if he can take contact, see if he can run the floor, make cuts, rebound, defend, all those things. He’s got to have time on the floor to do, to see if he can physically adapt, and that process is only just beginning.”
Kevin Durant also had this to say about Ben Simmons;
“I didn’t hear any setbacks,” Durant said. “That’s pretty much what I’m looking for [when] somebody on our team goes through anything while they’re playing in the stay-ready groups or pre-practice groups if anybody got injured or anything. So I haven’t heard … he’s probably progressing pretty well, so we’ll see.”
Flip to the next pages for thirst traps of his fiancee Maya Jama.
