Just before the start of the new NBA season, Ben Simmons suffered one of the most serious injuries in professional sports. The Australian tore his Achilles tendon during a Sacramento Kings practice, ending his season before it had even begun.
Just days earlier, it seemed as though years of injuries and failed comeback attempts were finally behind him. He looked ready to play meaningful basketball again, with reports even suggesting he could start for the Kings. Now he faces another surgery and a lengthy recovery, with no certainty that he will ever play at the highest level again.
Simmons Had Finally Earned Another Chance
No one can say Ben Simmons didn’t try. For years, he went through rehab, worked his way back, learned to trust his body again and tried to convince himself, and then everyone else, that the player he once was hadn’t disappeared. This summer, he finally got the opportunity to prove it. Then it all fell apart during one practice, just three days before the Kings’ season opener. Maybe this is the final warning to a man who has spent far too long asking his body for something it keeps refusing to give him.
Back in August, we wrote here that Ben Simmons had to earn his way back to the NBA. After so many summers filled with familiar stories about his excellent conditioning, restored confidence and finally putting his health problems behind him, workout photos and promises that things would be different were no longer enough. He needed to get on the court, play and prove he could withstand the demands of an NBA season.
Sacramento gave him that opportunity. A one-year, $3.5 million contract, a place on a team with modest expectations and a coach willing to make use of his abilities without the burden of his former star status. It was perhaps the fairest chance Simmons had been given since leaving Philadelphia.
The Preseason Suggested There Was Still an NBA Player There
He scored seven points in just nine minutes in his debut against Golden State, then finished his final preseason game against San Antonio with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes. There was talk of him opening the season in the starting lineup alongside young Darius Acuff. Coach Doug Christie was pleased with his versatility, while Acuff spoke about how much easier Simmons made the game for him.
Simmons didn’t need to become an All-Star again, he only really needed to be a useful NBA player, someone who could contribute to the team that had placed its trust in him through his experience, defense and playmaking. Instead, he’s back in rehab.
His Body Has Been Dictating His Career for Years
The injury came after a year he had devoted almost entirely to recovery. Simmons didn’t play during the 2025-26 season as he worked to overcome longstanding problems with his back and legs. In an interview with Andscape late last year, he talked about training twice a day, six days a week, the physical demands of that routine and his determination to finally reach a point where he could compete without limitations.
He had undergone multiple back surgeries, dealt with nerve problems and lost some of the explosiveness and mobility that once made him one of the NBA’s most distinctive players. At 6-foot-10, he could guard virtually every position and run the break like a point guard. For years, he had been trying to regain control of his own body.
He played just 15 games in 2023-24, followed by 51 the next season, before missing 2025-26 entirely. That’s 66 appearances over three years. Go back further, to the start of the 2021-22 season, and Simmons has played only 108 NBA regular-season games.
Another Major Injury Changes the Question Entirely
We don’t know whether physical overload played any role in his Achilles rupture. Injuries like this happen to perfectly healthy athletes, sometimes on a single awkward step or takeoff. Still, Simmons had spent years trying to regain the physical condition required to play NBA basketball, only for each new beginning to end with another return to rehab. After everything he has been through, it’s hard not to wonder how much more his body can take.
He now faces recovery from one of the most serious injuries a professional basketball player can suffer. By the time he could potentially attempt another comeback, at 31, he would have to go through a process he knows all too well. And once again, he would need to find a team willing to take a chance on him.
After the injury, Simmons took to social media to insist that this wasn’t the end of his story. He reminded everyone that he had come back from difficult moments before and intended to do so again. A former No. 1 overall pick, three-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive First Team selection who has already earned more than enough money could have walked away long ago. Instead, he kept training and searching for another opportunity, even though his previous attempts had ended in much the same way.
“Being Ben” Arrived on the Day Everything Changed Again
On the very day Simmons suffered the injury, ESPN premiered its documentary “Being Ben“, exploring his career, health problems and desire to return.
The documentary also looks at his life away from basketball, particularly his passion for fishing. Simmons has already found fulfillment outside the NBA, but he also acknowledged how much he misses competing and what basketball still means to him. After all, it was precisely that desire to play again that he cited to Sacramento general manager Scott Perry as one of the main reasons he wanted to give it another shot.
Ben Simmons returning to the NBA is showing you never give up on the game you love 🙌
Stream “Being Ben” on the ESPN App and Disney+ https://t.co/YaPt1xaHPk
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 18, 2026
His love of the game kept him training when many were already convinced his career was over. But no matter how willing Simmons is to put in the work, he can no longer ignore what has been happening to his body for years.
There Is Already a Life Waiting for Him Outside Basketball
Maybe it’s time for him to seriously consider the life he has already started building away from the basketball court. Fishing, which occupied much of his time during his absence from the game, has long been more than an occasional escape. He acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in the South Florida Sails, became involved in professional sport fishing and has spoken openly about the satisfaction he finds on the water. He has work he enjoys, financial security and the opportunity to spend the rest of his life without constantly worrying about his next practice, surgery or rehabilitation.
Of course, athletes have successfully returned from torn Achilles tendons before. Simmons has every right to believe he can be one of them. But his situation is far more complicated than this latest injury alone. After years of surgeries, lengthy absences and recoveries, he now faces another rehabilitation process, with no guarantee that he will ever be able to play at the highest level again.
Sacramento Gave Him the Opportunity He Had Been Asking For
In August, we challenged Ben Simmons to earn another opportunity. Sacramento gave him one, and the little we saw during the preseason suggested he was ready to make the most of it. Unfortunately, he never got the chance.
Now he faces another long recovery, after which he would once again have to convince NBA teams that his body can withstand the demands of professional basketball. But after everything he has been through, maybe he should consider whether he really needs to put himself through another comeback.
Ben, let’s be honest. Maybe this really is the end.