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Sports · North America

Ben Simmons tears Achilles in Kings practice, likely missing 2026-27 season

The Sacramento Kings said Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon during Sunday practice, putting his return to NBA play in jeopardy. He is likely to miss the 2026-27 season after signing a one-year deal with Sacramento.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 5 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 9 entries
5 outletsLatest reporting 2 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 1 · C 4 · R 0
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Photo: All-Pro Reels / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • The Sacramento Kings announced that Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon during practice on Sunday.
  • Simmons is likely to miss the entire 2026-27 season.
  • The Kings have not set a recovery timeline for Simmons.
  • Simmons signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Sacramento last month.

The brief

Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles tendon during Sacramento Kings practice, the team announced. The injury is likely to sideline the guard for the entire 2026-27 season. The Kings have not set a recovery timeline, according to CBS Sports. The injury interrupts Simmons’s planned return to NBA play with Sacramento.

He signed a one-year contract worth $3.5 million with the Kings last month, CBS Sports reported. Sacramento had expected him to start against the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night. Simmons had been working toward a return after sitting out the 2025-26 season while rehabilitating lingering back and leg injuries, CBS Sports reported.

The Kings’ announcement places the new Achilles injury during practice, before the season-opening game in which Simmons was expected to play. Before the injury, Simmons appeared in two preseason games for Sacramento. CBS Sports reported that he averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists across those appearances.

He had also started in the Kings’ most recent preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs, the outlet said. The injury alters the immediate role Sacramento had planned for Simmons: the team expected him in its starting lineup against the Clippers.

The Kings have not supplied a timetable for his recovery, so the season-long absence remains an expectation rather than a stated recovery schedule. Simmons’s last NBA season was 2024-25, when he played for the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers, according to CBS Sports. He appeared in 51 games and averaged 5.0 points, 5.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds that season.

CBS Sports also reported that Simmons traveled to Melbourne earlier this summer for a player-led minicamp with the Australian national team; he had not played for Australia since he was a teenager in 2013.

Why it matters

  • Simmons bears the direct cost: a torn right Achilles is likely to keep him out for the 2026-27 season.
  • Sacramento’s planned opening-night lineup is affected because the Kings expected Simmons to start against the Los Angeles Clippers.
  • The one-year, $3.5 million contract gives Sacramento a specific roster and contract stake in Simmons’s expected season-long absence.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Sacramento Kings announce a recovery timeline for Simmons.
  • How Sacramento fills the starting role it expected Simmons to take against the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night.
  • Whether Simmons’s expected absence for the 2026-27 season changes as the Kings provide further information about his recovery.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 1 Left · 4 Center
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 80% · Unknown 20%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
4 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (4 of 5 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Simmons suffered a fracture in his right foot and missed the 2016-17 season.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Ben Simmons first overall in the NBA draft.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. He made his NBA debut in October 2017 and won Rookie of the Year.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. Simmons made his NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Simmons won the NBA Rookie of the Year award.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. After Philadelphia lost to Atlanta in the playoffs, Simmons did not play for the 76ers in the 2021-22 season.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. In February 2022, Philadelphia traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal that brought James Harden to the 76ers.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. Simmons underwent back surgery.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  9. In September 2026, he signed a one-year contract with the Kings, setting up a return after that absence.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

Before Sacramento’s 2026-27 season, Ben Simmons had spent the 2025-26 season out of play while rehabilitating lingering back and leg injuries. In September 2026, he signed a one-year contract with the Kings, setting up a return after that absence.

Simmons’ injury history in the NBA began early: the Philadelphia 76ers selected him first overall in the 2016 draft, but a broken bone in his right foot kept him out of the 2016-17 season. He made his NBA debut in October 2017 and won Rookie of the Year.

Original sources

5 articles from 5 outlets

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