Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks has praised Ben Simmons for making an attempt to return to the court during the playoffs.
Simmons was on the end of lots of media criticism after it was reported that he was in contention to play against the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the first-round series but he ended up not playing. The point guard has since gone under the knife due to an MRI determining he had a herniated disc.
Several members of the press have admitted not knowing how severe Ben’s injury was, yet none have apologized so far.
Speaking to the YES Network’s Michael Grady, Marks insisted that Simmons did make an effort to play while calling out the player’s detractors.
“It’s a little bit of a testament that 1) he tried to get back out there and tried to help his teammates and secondly, we have to be careful not judge people,” he said. “And if you’re outside that medical profession, when you’re chiming in from afar, you just have to be a bit careful of what you’re saying because you really don’t know.”
The GM added that, based on how bad the injury was found to be, Simmons shouldn’t have even been trying to get on the floor.
“Frustrating from an organizational standpoint. but even more so from Ben’s,” Marks added. “I had a conversation with Ben. We all did. We saw how he wanted to get out there. To be honest, I’ve got to admire that. He tries to do 3-on-3, 5-on-5 and then you turn around and get an MRI, You see the disc herniation has gotten worse. and you think, well this guy is pushing through something that he shouldn’t be pushing through.
“Nobody wants to have surgery. It’s the last resort but it’s bygone now and we’ve got to move forward on this, we’ve got to support him and so forth.”
