ORLANDO — Ben Simmons underwent a successful microscopic partial discectomy Thursday morning to relieve nerve impingement in his lower back.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Timur Urakov in consultation with Dr. Barth Green of UHealth Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
Simmons had already been suspended by the Nets for the remainder of the season, and on Thursday the team announced he would undergo surgery.
Brooklyn did not provide a recovery timeline, but the team announced that Simmons is expected to make a full recovery in time for next season’s training camp.
The surgery, which was performed in Miami where Simmons was rehabbing, appears to have lessened the severity of the discectomy he underwent in May 2022, with the surgery performed on his left side instead of his original right side. .
If he returns to camp as the team hopes, it would also mean a much shorter recovery timeline.
Simmons played in just 15 games this season, averaging 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 23.9 minutes.
“I hope he’s OK mentally,” Mikal Bridges said after Simmons left midway through the season. “I know it’s never fun to get hurt. It takes a toll on you mentally, so just hope, hope he’s okay. [for a] Rapid recovery.
“It’s tough. You don’t wish that on anyone. … So I just hope he’s okay in his head. Wanting to go out and trying to get back,” And I hope he’s okay because I know it’s hard to be out there.”
Simmons is the only player on the Nets’ roster to be named to the All-Star team, making three of those selections and was named Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
Much of what the fired Jacque Vaughn had planned for this season was built around Simmons.
Brooklyn will now pay Simmons more than $86 million over two seasons. He has earned $73,342,080 over the past two seasons and will be worth about $13 million starting in 2021-22.
Since joining the team, he has played in just 57 of the 192 regular season games and missed any of the eight playoff games.
“The reality is, when you have a player like Ben, he just plays in so many games that people forget he’s on the roster,” the former Nets assistant said of the Hornets. Coach Steve Clifford said. “And if you have an All-Star-caliber player who takes up a portion of the salary cap and doesn’t play a lot, you’re not going to get anywhere near the team. That’s just the way it is.
“When players get hurt and are out for the season and don’t play as much, it’s easy for fans to look at it and say we forgot. But you can’t make up for it. A cap is a cap. He’s a great player. He’s been injured and hasn’t played much. He just makes a big difference.”
