Ben Simmons underwent a successful surgery on his lower back to erase the nerve impingement that has bothered him for a long time. It was a monumental procedure for Ben, as he’d been living in discomfort for an extended period, preventing him from living normally, let alone playing basketball for the Nets.
Dr. Brian Sutterer is a sports medicine professional with a popular YouTube channel where he goes in-depth on injuries to athletes. In a recent video, he researched what happened to Ben and gave his assessment.
“With Simmons, I think you have to look more at the history. You have to look more at the progression of how things have been going to get a sense of what might be ahead,” Sutterer said in his video on Ben.
“Doesn’t mean that this is like a death blow to this career, but we’ve seen this pattern happen a couple of years now in just a three-year or two-year span that it makes you more concerned about is it going to continue to happen.”
The injury was no joke
Sutterer gave a visualization of what happened to Ben, and it appeared like a swollen part of his back broke through and was touching and irritating a nerve. That is one of the most uncomfortable feelings, especially since nerves are part of the central nervous system, affecting almost the whole body.
While some people around social media had fun cracking jokes at Ben’s expense, he was going through something serious. He desperately wanted to play and help the Nets, but this issue was too much for his body to handle. It’s good that Ben, his agents, and the Nets decided to get surgery because there could’ve been long-term repercussions.
Sutterer sets expectations for Ben
Dr. Brian gave two scenarios with Simmons returning better than ever, a la Michael Porter Jr’s multiple back surgeries, or the more realistic case, where Ben won’t be the same player but will be healthier and a possible contributor to the Nets.
“I think you have to set a different expectation and a different standard adjusting for an accounting for what a player has gone through,” Dr. Sutterer continued. “That doesn’t mean that Ben Simmons is finished but it might mean that Ben is going to be different in terms of ever getting back to the Simmons that we thought we all knew and saw when he first joined the NBA.”
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