Ben Simmons injury update: The Nets star will have back surgery. Expected recovery time 3-4 months, per report

The Brooklyn Networks trade for Ben Simmons Hoping to help bring them closer to winning the championship. Now they only hope he can hit the field at some point. After Simmons was apparently set to return in Game 4 of Brooklyn’s first-round series against Boston, which would have been his Nets debut and season, he was surprisingly left out after team officials reported that a herniated disc in his back had even shifted Sore after exercise.

Unfortunately, Simmons’ herniated disc will now require surgery — a microdiscectomy, specifically — to relieve disc pain, Nets announced Wednesday.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned Simmons is expected to need three to four months of recovery time and should be back “well before training camp,” but at this point we’ll likely all be in wait and see mode. Per Shams Charania of The AthleticSimmons told the Nets that “a mental block is there for him, partly going back beyond last summer’s season, which creates pressures that could serve as a springboard for his back issues.”

So this is not just a physical situation.

“He wants to play basketball and play for the Nets because he’s working on solutions in terms of his well-being,” Simmons added. Simmons is clearly a person first. He’s struggling mentally, and he needs and should get the time he needs to solve this problem. Hopefully he finds a way to do that.

Next, Simmons is a basketball player with a bad back. Basketball player replaced by the Nets James Harden. It’s fair to wonder if the Nets knew the full extent of Simmons’ return problem when they made this trade, but that’s water under the bridge now. Going forward, the Nets hope Simmons can get his mental and physical back on track in time for a fresh start to next season.