Brett Brown Confirms Just how Much Sixers are Missing Ben Simmons

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the NBA, it happened at a dark time for the Philadelphia 76ers. Not only were they sitting in the sixth seed of the Eastern Conference while coming off of a tough stretch -- but the team was dealing with a long list of injuries. Ben Simmons' injury was perhaps the most notable at the time.

After suffering from a lower-back impingement, Simmons was set to be re-evaluated three weeks from the night the NBA underwent a hiatus. As we know, though, Simmons and the Sixers were 'saved by the bell.' As the NBA went away for months and didn't return until late July, the Sixers had time to get their team fully healthy once again -- including Ben Simmons.

Unfortunately, Simmons' good health lasted just a few seeding games. By the third seeding game of the restart, Simmons left the court with a suspected knee injury. At the time, it didn't seem severe, but soon we would find out that Simmons' injury was bad enough to send him back to Philly to undergo surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee. Now, the Sixers are in a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics and have quickly fallen into an 0-2 hole.

As the Sixers see players such as Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Jaylen Brown go off for the Celtics, Philly can't help but think about the loss of Ben Simmons, as he has typically guarded those guys well in the past. On Thursday afternoon, a day before Game 3 of the series against the C's, Sixers head coach Brett Brown confirmed what many have already suspected -- the 76ers miss Ben Simmons.

"From a human standpoint, the effort that he put in to try and get back with the legitimate injury that he had and the pieces he had to have in place to come back here to Orlando and play NBA basketball again, none of us understand that three-month thing he went through to get here," Brown said in regards to Simmons on Thursday.

"For him now not to be here, you feel it from a human standpoint," Brown continued. "From a selfish head coaching perspective, it's no secret that he is our best perimeter defensive player along with J-Rich. I said [it before], and I'll say it again; I think he was a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate. You look at deflections, steals, versatility to guard one through five -- pick whatever you want -- that stands out. His ability to defensive rebound that stands out. When you go in and guard these dynamic wing players, then you feel that absence."

Although Simmons' highest value came on the defensive side of the ball for Philly, he was no slouch on offense, either. The lack of a jump shot is still a concern for the young forward, but his absence on offense is still quite significant, and it shows. "Offensively, there is a pace aspect that we have to find better than we are currently finding," Brown explained. "In the meantime, our transition opportunities have been minimized because we're trying to do the right thing and go at where the game tells us to go. I think the pace aspect stands out where you don't have him."

While the Sixers could really use Simmons at this moment, the third-year All-Star isn't walking back out onto the court anytime soon. So as the Sixers attempt to climb out of an 0-2 hole in Game 3, they need to figure out how to fill the void of Ben Simmons, or else they will find themselves on a plane back to Philly by next week.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_