The Philadelphia 76ers appear to have lost a key piece of their squad for the foreseeable future.
Ben Simmons “is expected to be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time” thanks to a nagging back injury, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Head coach Brett Brown wouldn’t confirm a timeline, either.
“It really is kind of, like, how long is a piece of string? Who knows? Who knows?” Brown said prior to Monday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, per Wojnarowski. “Whatever the time equals on days, games, period of time, then we can talk more honestly as this thing shakes out, but as it sits right now, that’s how I see the world.”
The 23-year-old exited Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks after less than five minutes on the court with back soreness, an issue he’s dealt with throughout the 2019-20 campaign. He subsequently was ruled out of Monday’s game.
This certainly isn’t good news for the Sixers, who’ve been slipping in the Eastern Conference standings in recent weeks. And with just two dozen games left on Philly’s regular-season schedule after Monday night, now is not the time to lose one of the team’s most impactful players.
