On a recent episode of The Young Man and The Three podcast, Ben Simmons was candid about all he's gone through with his back injuries. Simmons said there were times he wondered if he should retire while rehabbing after back surgery last year.
"There were times, last summer, when I was like, 'I don't know if I can do this. I might have to stop playing,'" Simmons said.
"I had to bring that up in conversation, and think about it, just because physically it's tough, but mentally it's just so hard to return from an injury like that and go through the process of rehabbing a second summer in a row," Simmons continued. "But like I said, it's day-by-day. You just take it day by day."
The Nets guard/forward said it was his mindset that got him through. Simmons knew he wasn't finished as a professional basketball player. He said the second back surgery he had made him feel like he had a "new body". That gave Simmons the edge to rebuild himself into playing shape again.
"I can't just stop. Like, I'm not just gonna stop. I wanna compete, I'm a competitor, I like to play basketball, I like to win," Simmons said about attacking his rehab. "And that was my time to win. I had so many losses in the last two and a half years. I was like, 'No, I need this one.'"
