Brett Brown spoke to the media today for the first time since the NBA season was halted due to the Coronavirus pandemic. As with any Sixers media conference, there was talk of the team’s medical woes. Brown was asked about Ben Simmons who was rehabbing from a back injury when the season was postponed. Here is what he said about the injury he sustained against the Bucks.
discussing Simmons’ current health, Brown refers to his level of pain in Milwaukee “that was as disturbing a memory of a player as I can think of.” Says that Ben was vomiting he was in so much pain (???)
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) May 15, 2020
WHAT?!?!?!?
If you recall leading up the primetime Saturday match-up with the Bucks, we were unsure if Simmons was even going to play. He had missed the previous game with back soreness after he strained it “at practice”. The plan, the team said, was for him to receive constant treatment during the game every single time he came off the floor. So, they were willing to put him out there like it was a Game 7 and work on his back every single timeout. And he was in so much pain after playing less than a quarter, that he was throwing up? Why in the hell was he out here for that game? What part of that scenario was deemed safe by the medical staff for him to be a full go against the best team in the Eastern Conference?
Another nugget to pull from that sound bite is that it is unlikely Ben Simmons would have been ready for the playoffs, had the started on time in the appropriate manner. Elton Brown saeek would have been wrapping up the conference semi-finals. Ben Simmons would not have been available to this team until the Conference Finals at the earliest. This delay in the season certainly benefited this team in terms of scheduling.
Just another day where the Sixers medical staff has a light cast on them as the unmitigated disaster that they are. As for the Sixers as a team, it will be great to have them back healthy again. That has been a rarity this season. Brett Brown & Co. say this team is built for the playoffs. Well, with the regular season seemingly scrapped, they will have their chance to prove that.