Ben Simmons isn’t backing away from the setback that wiped out his season. He says his focus now is simple: get healthy, come back, and prove he can still be the player he believes he is.
The former No. 1 overall pick had spent the summer trying to rebuild momentum with the Sacramento Kings, who gave him another shot and saw encouraging signs from him in training camp and preseason. Then came the crushing turn on the eve of opening night, when Simmons tore his Achilles and saw his comeback plan stop before it really got started.
For the first time since the injury, Simmons opened up about how he’s handling the road ahead in a conversation with Andscape’s Marc Spears.
“My mentality is that I’ll be back,” Simmons told Andscape’s Marc Spears. “I’ll do everything in my power to get back, get healthy, and be better than I was before.
There is nothing but time and opportunity to do so. So, I’m going to attack it the way I am now.”
He also described the moment itself, and the decision he made immediately after.
“It felt like it was hours [down] on my knee that I was waiting [after the Achilles tear], but obviously it wasn’t that long,” Simmons added. “But I feel like in that moment I had to make a decision.
… ‘Are you going to come back or let this hold you down?’ For me, it was just choosing and making that decision to keep going and fighting.
I felt there was no other option. For me, it was like, ‘Let’s go.’
Surgery and start the rehab process.”
Achilles injuries have ended plenty of careers, and Simmons knows the doubts are out there, especially after finally starting to find his rhythm again. Still, he pushed back hard on the idea that his run in the league is done.
“I’m more than capable of playing in this league,” Simmons said. “I’m built for this.
I’m not a normal guy. I’m kind of like a unicorn in the sense of how I play the game.
I’m not your typical player. I don’t know how to put it, but I feel like I’m a lot different than most.”
Simmons also made clear that Sacramento has been a steadying force through all of this. He singled out Scott, Vivek, Coach Christie and his teammates for the support they’ve shown since the injury.
“Everybody has been amazing, from Scott to Vivek to Coach Christie and my teammates,” said Simmon s. “Everybody in Sacramento has been amazing.
They’ve shown a lot of support. That is the main thing, just showing that they’re there and they care.
Everything else, I can deal with. [Sacramento] is home for me.
This is where I’ve built a home now. And I have the support.
So, it just makes the most sense [to rehabilitate in Sacramento].”
From here, Simmons is moving straight into rehab and keeping the Kings in the loop as he goes through the recovery process. What happens next summer, including whether Sacramento brings him back, remains unsettled. But for now, the tone around him and the team is notably upbeat despite the injury and the Kings’ place at the bottom of the standings.
In Other News...
Doug Christie Pressure Is Rising Faster Than Kings Fans Expected
Doug Christie arrived with the kind of goodwill that usually buys a coach some patience, but the early returns have not given Kings fans much reason to relax. After taking over following Mike Browns departure, Christie inherited a team that was already facing pressure to prove it could keep moving forward, and the results since then have only sharpened the scrutiny around the job he is doing in Sacramento.
The Kings stumbled to a 22-60 finish in the 2025-2026 season, then opened the 2026-2027 campaign with four straight losses, a stretch that has only deepened concerns about progress and development. Injuries have been part of the backdrop, but the bigger worry is harder to dismiss: the team has not yet shown enough under Christie to convince anyone that the direction is changing. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Rookie Puzzle Is Changing How Darius Acuff Jr. Looks
Darius Acuff Jr.s early stretch has already become one of the quieter but more revealing storylines for the Kings, because the rookie point guard is forcing the team to rethink how it wants to use him. His shooting has been shaky, and the defensive side has come with its own learning curve, but the bigger question is how those growing pains fit into a rotation that still hasnt found much stability.
The lineup data points to a team still searching for the right mix, with Sacramento yet to put together a positive net rating group that has played more than five minutes together this season. One encouraging wrinkle is that Acuff has looked better away from Zach LaVine, while rookie Emanuel Sharp has given the Kings some of the spacing and defensive presence that can help cover for the young guards rough edges. The puzzle is less about whether Acuff can help and more about which combinations actually make his development and the teams structure work at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Rookie Darius Acuff Is Forcing A Bigger Sacramento Question
Through the first four games of the season, Darius Acuff Jr. has already given the Kings something they did not have to wait long to evaluate. The No. 7 overall pick is averaging 21.5 points and 4.8 assists, and even with some shooting inefficiency, he has shown enough scoring punch and playmaking feel to make Sacramentos early offense look more dynamic than expected. Kings general manager Scott Perry has also liked the competitive edge Acuff has brought with him, which matters when a rookie is being asked to help shape the tone of a young season.
Acuffs start only sharpens the bigger question around Sacramento: how quickly does this become more than a promising rookie stretch and into a real part of the teams identity? He already owns the franchise mark for the highest single-game scoring output by a teenager in a home game, but the bigger impression has been his insistence that winning comes first. For a Kings team looking for answers, that kind of production paired with that mindset makes it hard to ignore what comes next. [Read more 🡒]