Ben Simmons is well aware he’s in debt with both Brooklyn and their fans, after struggling to find his best form in the last couple of years. The Australian star has been either injured or simply ineffective wearing the Nets jersey, and considering his inflated salary, he’s convinced he will improve this upcoming campaign.
During a recent interview, the foward truly believes that the entire team is now pulling together towards the same direction, especially after failed superstar duo Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded out.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Ben Simmons says he owes his fans a bounce back season
“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. Get ready for a great year. I think it’s going to be exciting, we’re going to have a lot of… pic.twitter.com/zhCZlnQLW9
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 18, 2023
Back when the 27-year-old was traded to Brooklyn in 2022 as part of the trade that brought James Harden to Philadelphia, he didn’t play a single second that competition due to back problems and mental health. After he underwent surgery, he bounced back last season but only played in 42 matches.
Now, he admits he had the entire offseason to prepare and is ready to play his best basketball yet. So, no excuses this time!
“[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 shared. “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 assures that his coach Jacque Vaughn will play him more in point guard position this upcoming season
Now the Australian athlete guarantees he’s spoken to his head coach Jacque Vaughn about where he’ll be playing this following campaign.
“That’s what I know. As much as people would try to put me [at power forward]. Everyone’s a GM in their head: I’m a point guard,” Simmons revealed. “So I think with the team we have I think it’s constructed well for us to have a good run.
“Get ready for a great year. I think it’s going to be exciting. We’re going to have a lot of fun and get back to Brooklyn basketball.”
When asked about what has him the most excited about the 2023/24 season, he said that creating a new culture next to players like Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges will be key, as they all share the same team mentality.
“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.”
