When the Philadelphia 76ers take the court on Aug. 1 against the Indiana Pacers in Disney World, they will have their All-star point guard back in the starting lineup.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sixers head coach Brett Brown told reporters that Ben Simmons is fully recovered from his back injury, which he suffered on Feb. 22 against the Bucks.
“He’s good to go. He’s put in a tremendous amount of work for me to be able to confidently say that,” he said on a conference call (h/t Tim Bontemps of ESPN).
“As you search for silver linings with this pandemic and the way things have shaped up, it would be hard-pressed for me to find something more obvious than this: It’s enabled Ben to reclaim his health. He’s good to go, and we look forward to watching him with what I’m told is effectively 100 percent health.”
Back in April, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan reported that the former first-round pick would be ready to go if the 2019/20 season resumed.
Additionally, MacMullan also mentioned that the Sixers plan was to bring back Simmons towards the end of the regular season, to get prepared for the NBA playoffs.
However, as we all know, the NBA had their season suspended on Mar. 11, which allowed Simmons and other players to recover from their respective injuries.
With Simmons back in the fold, the Sixers should be in good shape heading down to the bubble in Orlando, Florida, barring any other foreseen circumstances.
When healthy, Simmons is one of the best two-way players in the league and adds another dimension to the Sixers’ offense. This season, the former LSU standout is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game.
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