The Brooklyn Nets Believe Ben Simmons Won’t Return This Season

What was supposed to be Ben Simmons‘ big comeback season for the Brooklyn Nets has fizzled quicker than a wet firecracker in the winter.

According to The Associated Press, Simmons, a three-time NBA All-Star, may have played his last game of the season after missing his 16th straight game. He is currently suffering from nerve impingement. In Simmons’ case, tissue or bone compresses nerve fibers is occurring in his back.

Simmons has missed 32 of 74 Nets games this season.

“For me as a coach, there’s some things that I can control, some things that I can’t control,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said. “What I can’t control is the impingement. What I can control is getting this group ready to play. And then, in all honesty, the realism that he’s probably not going to join us for the rest of the year … certainty will come once he continues to be looked at by specialists.”

Last year, Simmons did not play one single game after joining the Nets in a midseason trade with the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden. After putting up a poor performance in the playoffs almost two years ago for the 76ers, he did not take the court initially last season due to mental health issues. A back injury extended his lost season last year.

The Brooklyn Nets did announce last week that the former 76ers player will continue to miss games “while we determine the best long-term course of treatment.”

Vaughn added, “We’re going to lean into the specialist and the consultation and I think those answers will come from the specialists.”

That spot on the bench is extremely expensive. Simmons is bringing home $35.4 million this season and is slated to make $78.2 million over the next two seasons. Simmons was supposed to be part of a stacked Nets squad this year—until Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were traded.