2 min read • December 30, 2021
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After 3 months of waiting, debating, and gesticulating, star point guard Kyrie Irving has officially returned to the Nets, making his first appearance at practice on Wednesday.
Our team of ProBasketballDocs is certainly skeptical of the timing of the decision, as Irving’s return comes in the wake of 23-9 Brooklyn becoming the epicenter of COVID-19 cases in the NBA, although they have recovered nearly to full strength after a three-game hiatus imposed by the league.
Ironically, the 29-year-old entered health and safety protocols on Dec. 18, one day after his impending comeback was reported by The Athletic's Shams Charania, and he was just cleared Tuesday. He is not ready to play again, according to Steve Nash, who said on Wednesday that Irving will need a week or two of “ramp-up.” He has not played since injuring his right ankle in Game 4 of the East Semis against the Bucks on June 13.
Despite their hard stance going into the season that they would not allow an unvaccinated, part-time Irving to play for the team, the COVID outbreak exposed the fragility of the Nets’ roster and lit a fire under them to work towards a compromise with the 7-time all-star.
The problem that remains – unless there is a sea-change in the New York Mayor’s office – is that Irving (and his career 23.4 points per game in the playoffs) will be unable to play home games, leaving him unavailable for some of the high-level playoff matchups that Brooklyn will likely be in once April and May come around.
His uneven attendance, however, will not be new for the Nets, who have had Irving available for only 74 of their 192 regular season and playoff games since he signed in July 2019 as he has dealt with a combination of shoulder, ankle, and vaccine mandate ailments.
Despite all of this, they brought Irving aboard, signalling their desperation to see him with Durant and Harden. Having the offensive maestro there even half the time is better than the alternative, although we will see whether they can re-integrate in that limited time. Thankfully for Brooklyn, Irving's isolative skillset is not dependent on team chemistry, and his time off should mean he is now as healthy as he has ever been.
We'll watch how it plays out and hopefully he can contribute, but it's a tough tightrope to have a player in-and-out of the lineup.
As the old saying goes, the best ability is availability.
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