Ben Simmons tears Achilles days before Sacramento Kings season opener
The Australian guard-forward will undergo surgery after an injury at Kings practice. Reporters expect him to miss the season, but the team has given no recovery timetable.
Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon during Sacramento Kings practice on Sunday, October 18, days before the team's NBA season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers, ABC News reported. The injury interrupts the Australian guard-forward's return to the league after he sat out the 2025–26 season.
The tear occurred during a live drill and was confirmed by an MRI, according to a Kings release cited by ABC News. Simmons will undergo surgery, ABC reported. CBS Sports said the Kings gave no recovery timetable; both outlets assessed him as likely to miss the season.
How the injury interrupts Simmons's Kings return
Simmons signed a one-year deal with Sacramento last month, CBS Sports reported. He had been trying to return to NBA play after spending the previous season rehabilitating from lingering back and leg injuries. His most recent NBA appearances came in 2024–25, when he played 51 games for the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, according to CBS Sports.
His brief Kings preseason had offered a glimpse of that return. Simmons played in two games, averaging 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists, CBS Sports reported. He started Sacramento's most recent preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs, and CBS said he had been expected to start the opener against the Clippers.
That prospective role made the practice injury a setback for Sacramento as well as for Simmons. CBS Sports reported that he started alongside Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis against the Spurs, ahead of DeAndre Hunter. His absence leaves the Kings without a player they had used in their starting group immediately before the regular season.
A comeback after a season away
Simmons, 30, is a three-time NBA All-Star whose career has been disrupted by injuries over the past five years, ABC News reported. In his last NBA season, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds across his appearances for Brooklyn and the Clippers, according to CBS Sports. The Achilles tear came before he could play a regular-season game for his new team.
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Sources and context
- Brutal injury derails Simmons's latest NBA comeback attemptABC News
- Ben Simmons' comeback ends before it began: Kings guard suffers torn Achilles, likely to miss seasonCBS Sports
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.