It’s been a bad start to the 2022-23 NBA season for the Brooklyn Nets. Not much has gone right for them. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving returned to Brooklyn for the season and have been saying all the right things after a summer of drama. So far, they look committed to competing for an NBA title with this Nets squad. However, after one week they aren’t getting it done and lost their most recent game, 110-99, to the Milwaukee Bucks on October 26.
One of the ongoing storylines this season has been the struggles of Ben Simmons. The Australian point guard made his return for the opening game of the season and played his first game in over 15 months. With that, there is bound to be some rust. So far, the team has been encouraging with Simmons and his struggles and knows they are just temporary. Nets head coach Steve Nash talked about their expectations for Simmons being low, and most important is that he has joy in being back.
“For me, it’s trying to take the risk off the table,” Nash told reporters Wednesday. “I’m not expecting him to be 100 percent in the short term, but I want him to try to find that [joy].”
Kyrie Irving on Ben Simmons Struggles
Despite his struggles, the point guards Nets teammates have been continuing to support him while he gets back into the swing of NBA action. One of the players that has been most supportive of Simmons is Nets star Kyrie Irving. But with that support, Irving has been asked about him at nearly every opportunity. When asked after the game against the Bucks, Irving sent a strong message about Simmons and their expectations of him.
“You guys keep coming in here asking me like what about Ben? He hasn’t played in two years. Give him give him a f–king chance. We stay on his s—. You just stay on him. We’re just here to give him positive affirmations and just let him hoop,” Irving said.
Irving gave Simmons the benefit of the doubt after he missed two years of play, He also encouraged people to give him a chance. It’s day by day with Simmons as he gets used to a new system, a new position, and just used to the fast-paced action of the NBA. He is rebounding and facilitating well but has struggled shooting and in Wednesday’s matchup against the Bucks, sometimes struggled with some possible back pain. It looked better as the game went on, however.
The Nets Support of Ben Simmons
The support for Simmons is encouraging to see after he wasn’t able to get onto the court for the Nets last season and now has struggled this at the start of this season. However, Irving has voiced his support of Simmons time and time again and how the entire Nets team has rallied around him in his return.
“I think one of our greatest strengths as a human community is humanizing each other’s lives. He’s a human being, so he’s going to respond his way. And he’s going to deal with things his way, and we have to honor and respect that. That’s what people with integrity do. Not everyone lives by those same moral principles, so yeah, as a leader, I feel like it’s my responsibility to protect him, but I also must understand he has to go through things on his own. And when he asks for help, just be there for him. …
I don’t want to say I have all the answers figured out myself because it’s an ongoing battle myself, just dealing with those ebbs and flows. But for him, I just don’t want to see him get caught up in the same nonsense.” Irving told Friedell just before the start of this NBA season.
