Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn stated Ben Simmons taking part in regardless of recovering from a latest sickness is an indication of him being accountable to his teammates.
Simmons was clearly taking part in at a deficit in Saturday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets — Brooklyn’s eleventh in a row. The staff listed him as questionable with a non-COVID associated sickness earlier than taking part in in solely 19 minutes and mustered simply two factors, three rebounds and two assists, sitting all the fourth quarter.
But the very fact he confirmed up and gave it a go — on New Year’s Eve nonetheless, caught the eyes of his teammates.
”I believe it’s an enormous signal on your teammates — of displaying up on your teammates, being able to rumble,” Vaughn stated after the sport. “You’re not gonna be 100 percent all the time.”
Nets star Kevin Durant stated Simmons gutting out the minutes for the staff “says a lot.”
“Somebody who needed to complete the 12 months out with us. As somebody who was slightly banged up and slightly sick, to have the ability to come on the market and provides us some stable minutes, we actually respect that as his teammates. We know you’re below the climate however you continue to wanna give it a push to go play that claims loads.
“Regardless of how many minutes he played or his stats he still came out there and played hard for us so we respect that and we appreciate him coming out and playing hard under the weather.”
Kyrie Irving agreed with Durant’s sentiment. Simmons has additionally been coping with the ramifications of offseason again surgical procedure. Most just lately, he has missed time with a calf pressure.
“It’s very encouraging. Any time one of your teammates is selfless enough to put their body on the line for you, you don’t take that moment for granted because obviously he’s putting himself at risk, and we know that,” Irving stated of Simmons. “He’s sick, he’s not feeling well, but he felt called to play, and you’ve gotta honor that. He gave us everything he had and we came out with a win, so we clearly achieved our mission for today, and that’s just to win the ball game, get out of here and go celebrate with our families.”
Vaughn stated reserve guard Edmond Sumner additionally performed below the climate after skipping the ultimate leg of Friday’s shootaround as a result of he “just wasn’t feeling like himself.”
“And for him to go through treatment, for Ben to go through treatment and work their way to trying to play today means a lot to the group,” Vaughn continued. “I think it goes a long way as far as accountability to your teammates, so definitely means something for sure.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com