NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is heading into a 2024-25 season in which he has a lot on his plate as one of the leaders of the team. Not only is Simmons entering a contract year, but he is doing that coming off another season-ending injury to his back that he is just now starting to feel more like himself.
"I feel amazing. Physically I feel fine, I'm ready to go," Simmons said about how he feels physically following Friday's training camp practice before the team headed out to California. The Nets will play their first preseason game on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers and Simmons should be one of the players featured in the game as he is battling with Dennis Schroder for the starting point guard spot.
"As I said at media day, a lot of prep went into it," Simmons explained. "All summer, just rehabbing and getting right. Now I'm back on the court. So just getting better every day and trying to push everybody. Simmons played in just 15 games last season as he dealt with two separate nerve impingements in his back and that seems to continue a path of him dealing with injuries just when he starts to get going.
After explaining that he feels amazing, Simmons also led on that he was never fully healthy last season as he tried to play whatever back ailments he was dealing with that was preventing him from feeling like himself. Simmons averaged just 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 58.1% from the field and 40.0% from the free-throw line during a campaign in which he was just trying to get through each game.
"Yeah, I feel physically ready play at a high level," Simmons said. "Last year, I got to the point where I was good enough to get on the court, but I wasn't 100 percent. Which it was the situation, it was it was, but at the end of the day, I'm here now and this is the situation. I feel great, and I put a lot of time and work in."