Kyrie Irving has yet to play a single game for the Brooklyn Nets this season.
New York mandates that its athletes be vaccinated. Irving’s resistance to this resulted in him only being eligible for away games.
Initially, the Nets balked at the prospect of allowing Irving to be a part-time player who only participated in road outings. This ended up costing him a lot of money. In December, however – the team relented.
Irving’s return date is now set, and many are curious to see how he will ultimately fare alongside Kevin Durant and James Harden going forward.
On Thursday evening, Durant gave his brutally honest thoughts on Irving’s return.
“I mean have you watched him play? He’s a master… He can adapt and do anything out there so we’re not worried about him.”
Durant also opened up about Irving returning to the fold on his “The ETCs” podcast.
“With us getting ravaged by COVID and us being down so many bodies, it felt like the perfect time to add a fresh body back into the equation,” he said.
“Somebody that can bring so much to the floor. We just needed it. Adding Kyrie to the equation just makes us so much better as a team. He was down, we were down, it was pretty simple, to be honest, we need more bodies, bring Kyrie on.
“We wish this would’ve happened way earlier, But there was a lot that was going on with the start of the season.”
Clearly Durant is excited about the prospect of having his Big Three back. There has been a lot of talk about the damage this entire ordeal has done to his relationship with Irving, but it remains to be seen how deep those wounds actually are.
Winning is always the best antidote, either way.
That’s definitely one way to celebrate your birthday.https://t.co/lNQAfTc1bm
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 30, 2021
Currently Brooklyn is 23-10 and at the top of the Eastern Conference. If that remains the case, and should they win a championship, nobody will remember Irving’s early-season dramatics.
Should the Nets struggle with Irving, though – don’t be surprised if this situation gets relitigated down the road.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
