The Brooklyn Nets traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last season.

It left the organization with Ben Simmons as one of the cornerstone players alongside Mikal Bridges.

Simmons played in just 42 games during the 2022-23 season due to a knee injury.

The 27-year-old was scrutinized for missing so many games last season, but according to Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn, Simmons is 100% healthy heading into training camp, via Ian Begley on Twitter.

Nets’ Jacque Vaughn says Ben Simmons is 100 percent healthy and going 5 on 5 entering training camp.

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) September 26, 2023

Simmons’ health has always been a huge concern for him since being drafted into the NBA.

Seven years down the line, it remains an issue for him in his career.

So much so that many believe the Nets made a huge mistake by trading James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for the former top pick.

But ahead of the 2023-24 season, Simmons has looked sharp in training clips.

Moreover, with the Nets head coach giving a positive update about Simmons’ health, he may finally get back to being an NBA All-Star level player in the league.

Simmons averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game last season, a career-low for him in every aspect.

Apart from dealing with constant injuries, Simmons was reportedly going through some mental health struggles due to his strained relationship with the 76ers.

Now, with both issues resolved, there’s nothing that should stop him from becoming one of the best point guards in the league.

However, the true test to Simmons’ skills will be when the new season starts.

Can he lead the Nets to a playoff berth?

The post Nets HC Gives An Update On Ben Simmons appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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The Cincinnati Bengals had their backs against the wall on Monday night.

They couldn’t afford to fall to 0-3, especially after losing back-to-back divisional games to start the season.

That’s why star QB Joe Burrow wanted to give it a go and take the field, regardless of his condition and despite having re-aggravated his calf injury in Week 2’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Following the win, Burrow admitted that there was a risk of further injury, but the risk of falling to 0-3 was even bigger, so he wanted to be out there and do whatever his team needed him to do to get the job done, per Ian Rapoport.

#Bengals QB Joe Burrow: “There is risk to go out there and potentially re-injure it, but there's also a risk to go out there and be 0-3…”

No setbacks for Burrow. More from last night: https://t.co/OPnNo7nomp

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 26, 2023

That says a lot about the kind of leader and competitor he is, and fortunately, there were no setbacks.

Nonetheless, he’s still far from 100%, and people are concerned that it could be just a matter of time before he suffers a way more serious injury if he doesn’t take some time off to heal and restore his body.

The Bengals caught a break, with the Ravens losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

They’re now 1-2, while the rest of their division is 2-1.

They now have a date with the Tennessee Titans on deck, and they should end up on top of that matchup, even with Burrow at less than 100%.

The Bengals also started last season 0-2 before winning 12 of their last 14 matchups, so they obviously have plenty of confidence in their ability to do it again this season.

For that, however, they’ll need their quarterback to be healthy.

The post Joe Burrow Sends Confident Message After First Win Of The Season appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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Week 3 was a ho-hum victory for the Kansas City Chiefs as they blew out the Chicago Bears to move to 2-1 during the 2023 NFL season.

The Chiefs were in firm control of the game from the start as they bottled up Justin Fields and the offense did its thing with Patrick Mahomes finding soft spots in the Bears defense.

One player who had a big day was Travis Kelce, as the tight end looked much more like himself since injuring his knee prior to Week 1.

Kelce was a thorn in Chicago’s side all afternoon as he routinely got open and gave Mahomes an easy target to throw to.

However, the All-Pro tight end was also highly motivated as he had Taylor Swift up in a box suite watching the game with his family.

The highly-publicized couple made waves on social media and players like Micah Parsons couldn’t help but poke fun at the situation via his Twitter account.

My brothers!! One women can change your life!!! Start shooting!! https://t.co/U5BT794BN7

— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) September 25, 2023

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Parsons’ reaction is hilarious as it seems that Kelce inherited a lot of Swift’s fans over the weekend.

Kelce has previously talked about how he went to go see Swift in concert, but was unable to meet her in person.

However, he apparently was undeterred and the two eventually linked up at some point given her presence at the Chiefs game.

While the Kelce-Swift rumors have all but been confirmed, Kansas City has more important things to worry about over the course of the season.

For example, they’ll be busy preparing for another game this weekend against the New York Jets.

The post Micah Parsons Has Perfect Reaction To Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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