Ben Simmons’ Sacramento Comeback Ends Before It Even Begins

There are few things more unforgiving in professional basketball than a promising comeback interrupted by another devastating injury. For Ben Simmons, the opportunity to rediscover his place in the NBA was finally within reach. A new uniform, a fresh opportunity with the Sacramento Kings, and encouraging preseason performances suggested the former All-Star might still have plenty of basketball left to offer. Instead, just days before the regular season, Simmons suffered a torn right Achilles tendon, bringing his highly anticipated return to an abrupt and heartbreaking halt.

The Kings confirmed that Simmons sustained the injury during a live practice drill Sunday, October 18. An MRI revealed the extent of the damage, and the 30-year-old Australian will require surgery. The injury is expected to sideline him for the entire 2026-27 NBA season, ending his comeback before Sacramento can discover what he might have contributed when the games began to count.

The timing could hardly have been worse. Sacramento opens its regular season Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, a matchup Simmons was preparing to approach from an entirely different perspective than his previous appearance with the franchise. After missing the entire 2025-26 season while recovering from back and leg problems, he had spent months preparing for another opportunity. The Kings offered him that chance in September, signing him to a one-year, $3.5 million contract after encouraging offseason workouts and medical evaluations.

And for a brief moment, the gamble appeared promising.

During Sacramento's preseason finale against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, Simmons delivered 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and a steal in 26 minutes. Although the Kings suffered a 126-97 defeat, his individual performance provided an encouraging glimpse of the player Sacramento hoped to rediscover. He converted five of nine field-goal attempts and made all four of his free throws, displaying the versatility that once made him one of basketball's most intriguing talents.

His value was never measured exclusively by scoring. At 6-foot-10, Simmons built his reputation around an unusual combination of court vision, passing ability, rebounding, and defensive versatility. A player capable of directing an offense while defending several positions offered possibilities few traditional point guards could match.

Those abilities once made Simmons a cornerstone of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Selected first overall in the 2016 NBA Draft after playing at Louisiana State University, Simmons missed his initial professional season because of a foot injury. When he finally made his NBA debut in 2017, he quickly justified Philadelphia's investment, earning Rookie of the Year honors and eventually securing three consecutive All-Star selections.

He also earned two NBA All-Defensive First Team selections and an All-NBA Third Team honor, establishing himself as one of the league's most versatile players.

But his career eventually became a complicated story of extraordinary ability interrupted by injuries, inconsistent availability, and questions surrounding his offensive development. Following his departure from Philadelphia during the 2021-22 season, Simmons joined the Brooklyn Nets, although a back injury prevented him from playing until the following season.

He later played for the Clippers, finishing the 2024-25 campaign in a reserve role. Across Brooklyn and Los Angeles that season, he appeared in 51 games before another extended absence threatened his professional future.

Sacramento represented something greater than another contract. It offered Simmons an opportunity to demonstrate that his basketball instincts, defensive intelligence, and ability to create opportunities for teammates could still outweigh the physical problems that had followed him for years.

For the Kings, his absence creates an immediate basketball challenge. Sacramento had envisioned Simmons providing depth across multiple positions, particularly at point guard. With that option gone, rookie Darius Acuff Jr. faces greater responsibility as the team prepares for its opener.

Head coach Doug Christie must now reconsider how Sacramento distributes its ball-handling responsibilities without a veteran whose greatest strengths involved creating opportunities for others.

The emotional consequences are considerably harder to measure.

Simmons addressed the injury through social media, acknowledging the frustration of another interruption while expressing determination to continue his career.

"This injury is another chapter in my journey, not the end of my story," he wrote.

Those words carry particular weight for someone whose career has repeatedly alternated between the promise of renewed success and the disappointment of physical setbacks.

Across 383 regular-season NBA appearances, Simmons has averaged 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists. Those figures represent an accomplished basketball career, even if the years since his Philadelphia prime have raised questions about what might have been.

Now Sacramento must prepare for a season without a player it had hoped would contribute immediately, while Simmons faces another demanding rehabilitation and an uncertain professional future beyond his one-year agreement.

For Kings fans, the disappointment extends beyond losing a potentially valuable contributor. There was genuine curiosity surrounding what a healthy Simmons might accomplish in purple and black. His brief preseason appearances offered enough encouragement to make the possibility worth watching.

Unfortunately, basketball will not provide that answer this season.

Simmons' Sacramento story was supposed to be about rediscovery. Instead, its next chapter will unfold away from the court, where the former All-Star faces perhaps the most difficult comeback of his career.