Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said on the Pat McAfee Show Tuesday that the rumors that Ben Simmons left the Brooklyn Nets group chat after teammates asked him if he would be playing in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Boston Celtics this past postseason were not true.

Simmons appeared to have his own take on the rumors.

Simmons never played for the Nets last season after joining the team as part of the James Harden trade because he reportedly injured his back during winter conditioning.

There was some belief that Simmons might make his return ahead of Game 4 and the power forward reportedly planned to do so, but as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the time, "a week-plus of pain-free days ended with pain soreness on the eve of Brooklyn's elimination."