Nets’ Ben Simmons Says It’s Time to Return to Old Form

Nets guard Ben Simmons has been viewed as a sort of a bust for the past year-and-a-half. That’s not intended to trash the man — but it is how he’s been viewed.

Simmons indicated he knows that, and is hoping to change it and return to the All-Star he once was.

“I’d say [the hardest part was] not be able to do your job to the fullest. I never have excuses, I never tried to say anything about different things going on. But I was dealing with an injury at the time, so I did what I could in the moment,” Simmons said, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “And I owe it to everybody, the fans and everybody, to get back to where I need to be. That’s what I did this summer to get back.”

Simmons was the lone “star” standing after the Nets traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last season. Still, the likes of Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson were able to push them to the playoffs. Simmons was forced to watch with back issues that plagued him all season. But Lewis reported he’s expected to be 100 percent early in the season.

“[I feel] amazing. I think this is the first summer where I’ve really had to just get healthy and get back on track to where I need to be,” Simmons said, via Lewis. “I’m super excited to be on Brooklyn, obviously. And then we’ve got a great, great team, a great coach in Jacque Vaughn. So I’m excited. I think this year is gonna be a completely different year to the past couple.”

Simmons also implied the Nets are all on the same page.

“I think just playing with guys who are just easy to play with, that just have one goal and that’s to win. I don’t think guys have too many individual goals,” he said. “I think the team is going to come first and I think the culture that Jacque Vaughn, [general manager] Sean Marks are building now has been incredible.”