Paul Pierce Wonders When, Exactly, Did Ben Simmons Hurt His Back

Paul Pierce is among the many critics who have questioned the heart of Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Ben Simmons.

And now Pierce is questioning Simmons' back, too.

"I’m trying to figure out did I miss that game Ben Simmons hurt his back when did this all happen," Pierce tweeted.

Simmons, 25, underwent back surgery on Thursday. As our Alejandro Avila relayed, Simmons is expected to miss 3-4 months. That means maybe he'll be back in time for training camp.

But even if Simmons returns in October, he will have missed more than a year. He last played in an actual game in June 2021.

That was when Simmons was with the 76ers. His final game did not go well. He was afraid to so much as look at the basket in the fourth quarter of a Game 7. He shoots free throws and the rim immediately cringes with fear. He doesn't appear to be a guy who even wants to play anymore, but he does seem like a guy who still wants to collect a paycheck.

So there are reasons Simmons has come under fire from the general public, as well as from tons of former NBA players such as Pierce, once a star with the Celtics and Nets.

Still, in fairness, Simmons clearly had a back issue. He did try to ramp up his workouts and make his Nets debut a couple weeks ago. But the past year has left everything he does, in terms of basketball, open to question.

And that's all Pierce is doing -- questioning Simmons. While Pierce is opening himself up to criticism from the pencil-necked Twitter trolls, you have to give him credit for asking a question that a lot of sports fans are wondering.

Follow Sam Amico @WireHoops