After missing nearly the entire 2021–22 season, Ben Simmons is reportedly gearing up for a potential return ahead of the playoffs.
The Nets’s All-Star has resumed light on-court workouts with the hope that he will be able to ramp up his activity in time for the team’s postseason push, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Simmons, who has not played since last year’s conference semifinals, citing mental health concerns, recently received an epidural for a back injury he sustained in February during reconditioning.
With only five regular-season games remaining, Simmons’s return would have to come quickly for the young star to begin developing some semblance of an on-court rapport with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the rotation.
The Nets (40–37) are currently in a three-way tie with the Hornets and Hawks for eighth place in the East. Brooklyn faces Atlanta on the road Saturday in a crucial matchup with play-in implications.
