Another bizarre turn in Ben Simmons' saga as agent takes responsibility for PG's injury

When Ben Simmons passed up a dunk in the 2021 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, nobody expected the downward spiral his career would take. 

Since that series, Simmons has played 57 regular-season games. He sat out the 2021-22 series due to mental health issues and he's been dealing with a back problem more recently.

Simmons missed 38 games during the opening months of the season. He's played nine games since returning but once again finds himself on the injury report. However, in an unusual turn of events, Simmons agent, Bernie Lee, has taken responsibility for his clients current injury struggles.

"We continue to try and find non-surgical options to allow Ben to move forward on a permanent basis and that is where this is my responsibility and I am [the] one to blame," Lee told SNY's Ian Begley. "Come the offseason, we're going to implement some processes and outside input that'll allow him to finally move forward from this on-going issue and resume his career at the levels he's established prior to being injured."

At his best, Simmons is among the toughest defenders in the NBA. He's also one of the most talented playmakers residing in the league. However, we haven't seen that version of Simmons for almost four years. He's declined at warp speed since that mistaken pass against the Atlanta Hawks. 

Simmons is 27 and should be entering his prime years. Instead, we could end up viewing his first three seasons in the league as his best. He's been disastrous over the past three seasons, and his five-year $177 million deal is arguably the biggest albatross in the league. 

Nevertheless, Lee is doing the right thing. He's protecting his client. He's moving the spotlight away from Simmons. Yet, he's also sending a message to Simmons that something needs to change. On his current trajectory, it's hard to envision another NBA team extending him a contract after next season. Time is running out for Simmons to save his career. 

A team will always be willing to take a chance on high-upside talent with an injury history. Things get murky pretty quickly when you factor in his massive underperformance in recent seasons (6.9 PTS, 6.3 REB, 6.1 AST in 2022-23 and 6.1 PTS, 7.9 REB, 5.7 AST this season). Simmons has one year left on his deal after this season. He needs to prove he can still be the dominant force he was with the Philadelphia 76ers. Otherwise, we might not be seeing much more of him. And that would be a terrible waste of talent.