Brooklyn Nets coach makes daring assertion to Ben Simmons

On Tuesday night time, the Brooklyn Nets opened the preseason with a recreation towards the Los Angeles Clippers in California.

Earlier than the sport, head coach Jordi Fernandez spoke about Ben Simmons when assembly with reporters (h/t The Athletic’s Regulation Murray).

Fernandez: “A wholesome Ben Simmons is a really, very, very, excellent basketball participant. 3-time All-Star. And that is what we now have proper now. We’ve got a wholesome Ben. He is labored very exhausting all summer time . He did an excellent job making ready his physique for the sport. I am very excited now to see a pacesetter on the court docket… We need to play quick, and nobody higher than him to rebound, push, throw the ball ahead.

Simmons performed for the primary time since February.

He completed the sport with two factors, two rebounds, three assists and a steal whereas capturing 1/5 from the sector in 13 minutes of play.

The Nets misplaced by a rating of 115-106.

After the Clippers, the Nets will play three different preparatory video games towards the Washington Wizards, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.

They’ll open the common season on October 23 after they go to Trae Younger and the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Enviornment in Georgia.

Final season, the Nets had been the eleventh seed within the Japanese Convention with a 32-50 report.

They missed the NBA playoffs for the primary time because the 2018 season (six years in the past).

Simmons enters his fourth season as a member of the Nets.