Report: Ben Simmons out of World Cup

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Ben Simmons' World Cup fate has been decided.

Ben Simmons won’t play for Australia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, according to an ESPN report that has since been confirmed on social media by Basketball Australia.

Basketball Australia has stated:

"Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets have advised Basketball Australia that Ben is unavailable for the World Cup. Ben needs more time to focus on his rehab and he looks forward to being part of the Boomers in the future. We wish Ben all the best in his recovery."

Simmons, who wasn’t donned the green and gold since the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championships, has been rehabbing a back injury this offseason and will continue that recovery throughout the World Cup period.

Australia coach Brian Goorjian had publicly declared on several occasions Simmons was set to be welcomed into the Boomers camp, if he wanted to participate.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ben Simmons won’t play for the Australian Boomers at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, sources told ESPN. Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets made a joint decision this week.<a href="https://t.co/aQEiMkFug3">https://t.co/aQEiMkFug3</a></p>— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) <a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/1674542927262138369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We’ve made a spot for him if he’s available by the time of the Cairns camp. He definitely wants to be a part of this and is working right now to get healthy,” Goorjian told SEN in May.

ESPN is reporting Simmons and his NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets, came to a joint decision this week for him to sit out the World Cup and focus on his rehabilitation.

ESPN also said there is “an expectation that Simmons will eye the 2024 Paris Olympics”.

The Boomers will face Germany, Finland, and Japan in the group stages of the World Cup, which tips off on August 25.