Nets’ Ben Simmons will miss the remainder of the year due to back problems.

This will be Ben Simmons’ third consecutive season, ending early due to back issues. He will miss the rest of the year.

The Brooklyn Nets announced on Thursday that Simmons, who has missed two games due to a pinched nerve in his lower back, will speak with physicians and look into treatment options for the remainder of the season.

This season, Simmons has only played in 15 games. He once missed 38 straight, and he hasn’t played in the last five.

The Nets stated that Simmons, his representatives, and team medical staff are currently consulting with a variety of specialists to decide which course of action will give him the best chance for long-term, sustainable health.

6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists are the averages for the top pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Since the Nets acquired him from Philadelphia at the trade deadline in 2022—a transaction that sent James Harden to the 76ers—he has only appeared in 57 games and has never completed a season.

Due to mental health issues, Simmons had not played for Philadelphia at the beginning of the season. After moving to Brooklyn, he attempted to restore his conditioning but injured his back. After that season, he underwent a microdiscectomy, a technique to remove a small portion of a bulging disc.

Following that, Simmons appeared in just 42 games in 2022–2023 before missing all of them due to a lower back nerve impingement that required surgery in March.

After returning to health, he was once again the starting point guard to open the season, but he was hurt in a Nov. 6 defeat to Milwaukee. Before an MRI exam revealed that his lower back was the source of the pain, it was initially thought to be a left hip injury. After sitting out until 29 January, Simmons returned to action and finished with 10 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench in a blowout over Utah. But he only participated in eight more games.

With almost $40 million left on his contract, Simmons has one year left on his deal.