76ers' Ben Simmons is Back to Working out After Knee Injury

"No vacation, don't deserve it," said Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons on Wednesday afternoon. The two-time All-Star has been frequently active on social media as of late, but on Wednesday the third-year forward made it clear that he's back in the gym and working on his body once again.
Typically, Simmons would vacation a bit in the offseason but the young star must not feel like he deserves to play hard this time around considering how his season went. While Simmons had a solid year, notching his second All-Star performance, first-team All-Defensive and third-team All-NBA, a lack of availability at times kept him off the floor, which left the Sixers struggling.
It all started back in February when Simmons injured his back early on during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. As it turned out, Simmons was dealing with a lower-back impingement, which ruled him out for about a month before the league went on a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Ben Simmons’ Instagram story, the All-Star is back in the gym putting in the work #Sixers pic.twitter.com/psZL5exYRz
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) September 16, 2020
After working out extremely hard and coming back stronger than ever, Simmons was motivated for a comeback as the Sixers were one of 22 teams to enter the NBA bubble down in Orlando, Florida, for a playoff run. Before the postseason, the Sixers had eight remaining regular-season games to participate in. Unfortunately, Simmons was only available for three -- as he suffered another setback.
A subluxation on his kneecap required surgery. Once it became known Simmons had to fly back to Philly for surgery, he was expected to miss the rest of the regular season and all of the 76ers' playoff run. Now, Simmons is back in the gym as he's motivated to come back stronger than ever for year four.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s Philadelphia 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia Threads: @JGrassoMedia
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