Ben Simmons’ Nets importance not lost on his teammates

Death. Taxes. Ben Simmons coming off an injury. 

But for jaded Nets fans who understandably don’t want to believe the hype, this time it’s not coming from the oft-injured Simmons, or his camp.

This time it’s coming from his Nets teammates, who repeatedly brought his name up unbidden Monday and said the former All-Star looks good. 

“I don’t look at it as a rebuild. I’m trying to win,” said Dorian Finney-Smith, pausing and adding, “Especially if Ben is Ben, I feel like we’ve got a good chance to win some games.” 

OK, the problem with Simmons and health is that ifs turn into long shots. 

“It’s my job to come in and compete,” Simmons said. 

The point guard has missed 189 of 246 games over the previous three seasons with a bad back, nerve impingements forcing two microscopic partial discectomies in 2022 and again this past March. 

“Even when I got traded here, I wanted — because I thought he was healthy — to play with him on the court. And in minicamp, we had a whole week where we played together, and it looked great. So I’m really excited about him being healthy,” Dennis Schroder said. “All the noise and social media, what everybody was saying about him, I’m really looking forward for him to shut everybody up.” 

No matter what Simmons does, it’s unlikely to shut up some of his detractors. But he and the Nets just want to see him get — and stay — on the floor.

As far as the online haters on social media, he’s not worried about that. 

“It’s nothing to say to them because I don’t really know them. I’m here to play basketball. The priority is just to play and be healthy. So all the other stuff that’s been said, that’s just words from people that have something to say about something they don’t have an understanding of or information on,” said Simmons, who — at least at the moment — physically feels back to his old All-Star self. 

“Yeah. I feel like when my body is healthy, that’s the confidence I always have, and that’s where I’m at right now. Physically I feel great and ready to go. And so it’s just getting reps, game reps and playing.” 

Those camp reps will help him work out spacing issues with Nic Claxton. Still, the Nets are 31-26 the last two years when Simmons has played and just 46-61 when he didn’t.

For perspective, that’s a 45-win pace with, and 35-win pace without. 

“I think people forget me as a player when I’m healthy. You know I can play basketball, I’m pretty good right?” asked Simmons, who unfortunately hasn’t been healthy often.

Now, with a $40.3 million expiring deal on a tanking team, it behooves him to stay fit as he heads to unrestricted free agency next summer. 

“Yeah, for me it’s important just to be healthy. I want to play basketball at a high level and get the most I can out of my body. And that’s the focus. The money’s nice and all that, but I want to play and play healthy. At the end of the day, I love playing basketball. And that’s what I want to do.”